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1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

A  HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTEMAI^ISM 
IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


ITS  INTRODUCTION,  GROWTH,  DECAY,  REVIVAL 
AND  PRESENT  MISSION. 


!      I 


BY 


Alexander  Blaikie,  D.D., 

FOR  THIRTY-THREE  YEARS  PASTOR  OF  THE  (u.)  FIRST  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH,  BOSTON. 
AUTHOR  OP  "the  philosophy  OF  SECTARIANISM,"  ETC.,  ETC. 


"T/iy  saints  talte  pleasure  in  her  st07ies, 
Her  very  dust  to  them  is  clear. ^^ 


T-wo  'voiiTJiMiES  xisr  onsTE. 


BOSTON : 

PUBLISHED  FOR  THE  AUTHOR  BY  ALEXANDER  MOORE, 

No.  3  School  Street. 

» 

1881. 


Prloet2.00.   Sold  by  subsoription.    SentbymaU. 


0"4-  <o  5  -  Nn/.  I'd  /^O 


Copyright  November  14th,  1881,  by 

ALEXANDER  BLAIKIE, 
3X31  North  i6th  St..  Philadelphia. 


FERQUSON    BROS.    li  CO., 

PRINTERS  AND    CLEOTROTYPERS, 

PHILADELPHIA. 


IDctricatioit. 


TO  PRESBYTERIANS  IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 

Respected  Fiiiends  : — Our  "  Form  of  sound  words,"  embracing  doc- 
trine, worsiiip,  government  and  discij)line,  is  not  ephemeral.  As  a  more 
exact  embodiment  of  revealed  trutli,  than  is  found  elsewhere  among  humaa 
productions,  it  will  be  perpetuated. 

Both  Prelacy  and  Congregationalism  borrow  our  axle  to  keep  their 
wheels  in  motion. 

They  could  not  usefully  exist  without  at  least  some  consultative,  if  not 
judicial  representation. 

As  we  see,  in  the  case  of  the  seven  churches  in  Lesser  Asia,  the  influ- 
ence of  revealed  truth  is  not  always  equable  and  enduring.  It  performs 
its  mission  successfully,  in  proportion  to  the  faithfulness  of  its  professors. 

Let  us  therefore  be  "  valiant  for  the  truth  in  the  earthy"  and  be  "judged 
faithful  to  the  Lord  " — "  followers  of  them  who  through  faith  and  patience 
inherit  the  promises." 

This  work  is  written,  that,  you  may  know  something  of  the  doctrine, 
faitli fulness,  endurance  and  success  or  otherwise,  of  Presbyterians  in  former 
generations  here— under  the  overshadowing  influence  of  a  different  church 
polity — sustained  by  the  civil  power. 

It  is  "  written  for  the  generation  to  come :  and  the  people  which  shall  be 

created  shall  praise  the  Lord." 

(8) 


V 


O' 


■'A 
i 


PEEFACE. 


TiiRO'U'N  by  Divine  Providence  among  Presbyterians,  who 
were  ''strangers  in  a  strange  land,"  and  subsequently  called  to 
reclaim  (if  practicable)  the  church  estate  entailed  for  their 
denominational  use  in  the  New  England  metropolis,  the  equity 
of  title  to  which  was  once  enjoyed  by  our  pastor,  church  and 
congregation,  by  our  Presbytery  and  Synod  "of  tlie  bounds;" 
but,  perverted  tirst,  by  schism,  and  then  by  furtive  and  hasty 
local  legislation,  impairing  tlie  obligations  of  a  contract,  in  vio- 
lation of  the  Constitution  of  the  Unitt-d  States,  it  became  ne- 
cessary for  the  writer  to  examine  existing  records  of  church 
courts. 

This  duty  and  privilege  opened  to  him  a  new  field  of  study 
and  observation,  of  which,  in  common  with  others,  he  had 
known  but  a  little. 

As  the  records  were  extensively  lost,  a  knowledge  of  the  prin- 
ciples, privations,  sectarian  oppression,  and  toils,  of  his  denom- 
inational predecessors  were  floating  into  oblivion,  and  wliile  the 
name  survived,  those  who  then  wore  it  were  extensively  suc- 
cumbing before  a  different  species  of  ecclesiastical  }H)lity. 

From  these  and  similar  facts,  on  consideration,  he  thought, 
that  a  contribution,  not  yet  written,  miglit  be  made  to  the  his- 
tory of  a  portion  of  the  church  militant,  tliat  in  an  historic  form, 
it  might  "  strengthen  the  things  that  remain  and  are  ready  to 
die,"  while  the  workings  of  Divine  Providence  towards  and 
with  our  people,  may  afford  a  melancholy  interest  to  those 
whose  hearts  still '' tremble  for  the  ark  of  God." 

In  attempting  to  do  this,  his  ditticulty  was  much  increased,  by 
the  changes,  wiiich  have  been  (and  are' being)  rung,  on  and  un- 
der the  specific  name,  Presbyterian,  in  two  hundred  years.  In 
the  Council  at  Edinburgh  in  a.d.  1877,  no  less  than  forty-nine 
divisions  were  found  to  take  shelter  under  the  general  name. 
Hence  some  type  of  it  must  be  selected,  as  an  api)roximation  to 
a  standard,  and  finding,  that,  that  one  which  British  Pres- 
byterians have  ever  brought  to  America,  is  more  extensively 
authorized  by  divine  revelation  than  any  other,  the  writer  as- 
sumes it,  (excepting,  the  chapters,  circa  sacra),  as  the  criterion 

(5) 


6 


PREFACE. 


of  comparison  and  tho  moat  sciiptural  oxistinpf  Imman  "  fom 
of  sound  words." 

This  (tlie  Westminster  (.'onfessioii  of  Failli  and  Catefldsms, 
tlrawii  up  by  K'xlly  men  undersolenni  vnwi,  prcscnt-s  tliat  ''form 
of  doctrine  wliieli  is  according'  to  yndljiu  ss"' (with  tlie  ahov(? 
exeejitions).  with  almost  tlieentii('a('cnrai'>of  the  exact  sciences, 
Avhile  it  stands  out  in  contrast  with  the  iiKxh'rn  ideas,  that,  ""  tho 
manner  in  which  Congret^ationalism  took  its  rise  in  New  Knjf- 
land  renders  it  sutliciently  divine,"  and  thai  these  two  systems 
of  clmrcii  polity  are  all  l)nt  tiie  same.  "  Merely  a  <]uestion  of 
ciinrch  government,  where  no  substantial  [)iiiicipl()  of  religion 
is  involved"  (Hon.  W.  Willis). 

The  manly  utterance  of  the  editor  of  "tl-.e  ('i>)>fnr(i(itinval!xf^^ 
of  I)e(;ember,  1880.  is''  wort  liv  of  a  11  accept  at  ion  :  ""'such  talk  as 
that  Conffregjitionalism  and  Presbyterian  ism  ar<'  l)ut  twins,  only 
to  be  separately  identilied  liy  blue  and  red  riblions,  is  exceed- 
ingly superficial  and  unworthy  tlie  diunily  of  serious  and  candiil 
minds."  In  honor  to  the  truth,  he  dist  in:.juishes  thinijs  that 
d'ffer,  he  has  a  full  right  to  his  own  opinions,  is  able  to  express 
them,  and  in  so  far  as  this  work  maybe  in  o]»i)osition  to  liis 
views,  it  is  trusted  that  he  will  have  only  honorable  eom])e- 
tition,  while  the  writer  endeavors  to  shew  the  "  more  excellent 
Avay." 

The  task  undertaken  is  one  of  vast  diflfioidty.  If  it  were  sim- 
ply to  write  the  history  of  Presbyterianism  iii  any  other  part  of 
the  Union,  so  far  as  fa(;ts  could  be  presented  that  might  be 
easily  done. 

Take  Virginia  for  example.  In  it  also  Presbyterians  were 
ostracized  by  (uvil  law. 

"  In  1642alaw  was  passed  forbiddinganyotherthan  an  Episco- 
pal ministerto  othciate  in  thecolony."  The  restraininginllnences 
of  tlie  civil  ])ower  were  for  generations  fell .  (Joiisequently,  says 
the  Itev.  Dr.  Miller,  when  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Tennant  and  Find- 
ley  were  sent  for,  in  1745,  to  ])reacli  to  a  com])auy  of  sii;ners,  who 
l)ad  been  awakened  by  reading  tlie  liible  and  practical  religious 
books,  they  must  obtain  license  of  tlie  governor,  before' they 
could,  to  them,  "jn-each  Christ."  Tliere  also,  the  governor 
could,  only  with  great  dilhculty,  ])revail  on  the  com-t  not  to  re- 
voke the  license  wliicli  lu^  had  granted  to  the  eminent  Kev. 
Samuel  Davies,  and  send  him  out  of  the  colony,  and  there  also, 
the  venerable  Rev.  John  RogiMS,  1).  1).,  who  died  so  recently  as 
1811,  was  forbidden  to  ])reacli,  "under  jjcnalty  of  i;oOO,  and  a 
year's  imprisonment,  without  bail,  or  main  prize.''  Prelacy, 
however,  did  not  "take  its  rise  in  Virginia,"  and  while  in  its 
three  divisions  there,  it  has  lil'ty  perc  -nt.  of  tln^  chnrches.  yet, 
all  the  different  forms  of  religion  found  in  that  State,  are  alike, 
under  the  eye  of  the  civil  law,  abreast  of  each  other,  and  Pres- 
byterians are  not  badgered  by  the  dominant  sect,  while  if  any 
new  ones  appear,  they  are  almost  wholly,  if  not  altogether 
imported. 


PREFACE. 


By  tracinpc  records  and  from  other  sotirces  of  information  a 
liistory  of  Prcshytcrinnism  in  that  State  could  without  much 
dilliculty  Ik*  iircsmtcd.  tor  tlie  population  are  not  religiously 
"driven  to  chanijfe-."'  wliile  (exceptiuij  amonjj  the  some  lio,UOO,- 
000,  iu  Kii;flau(l  and  Wales,  there  are  oiu'  hundred  and  thirty- 
three  sects),  we  have  ainouj;  the  4,100.4118  peojile  in  New  Euli- 
liind,  tiie  most  sliiftinti  (piicksands  of  relijjious  opinion  in  doc- 
trine and  worshij)  to  he  found  in  Christendom, 

Conjir(%'ationaiism,  spiiut,'in<,'  up  within  the  Northern  Virgi- 
nia i)iautatious  as  a  colonial  reliixion,  had  from  its  infancy  an 
ex'clusive  theociacy.  "  He  (tlie  Rev.  Jolin  Cotton)  found  tht^ 
wiiole  country  in  a  perplexed  and  divided  state  as  to  th^'ir  civil 
constitution,  and  was  lecpiested.  from  the  laws  wherewitli  (t(uI 
governed  his  ancient  peo])li',  to  form  an  nhstrdct  of  such  as  wero 
of  moral  and  lastinjz  eqwify,  which  he  did  acceptably  and  judi- 
ci(uisly.  Hut  ina.^mui  II  as  an  Athfuinn  Demovrfdii  was  in  tho 
mould  of  tiie  (ioveruuuut  hy  tlie  KoyalCharter,  whicii  was  then 
acted  upon,  Mr.  (Jotton  effectually  recommended  it  unto  them, 
that  none  should  !)(»  electors,  nor  elected  therein,  except  such  as 
were  visilile  subjects  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  ])ersonally  con- 
federated in  onr  churches.  In  these  and  many  other  ways,  he 
propounded  unto  them  an  endeavor  after  a  theocracy,  as  near 
as  mi}j:lit  be  to  that  of  Israel." 

(Mather,  Miif,'.,  vol.  1,  pp.  265,  6.) 

It  was  tiieuceforth,  widle  the  charter  was  in  force,  "the 
sword  of  the  Lord  and  of  Gideon."  When,  in  after  fjenerations, 
this  was  partially  set  aside,  by  "  half  way  covenants  "  aiul  other 
customs,  from  her  ecclesiastical  ord(U',  there  sjirang  forth  not  a 
few  sects,  which  by  division  and  combination  are  still  being 
multii)lied. 

These,  when  combined  by  the  tie  of  species,  to  Presbyterian- 
ism  and  Ei)iscopacy,  present  a  very  formidable  opposition, 
whicli  extensively  compels  them,  in  New  England,  at  least,  to 
conform  to  her  usages,  customs,  logic,  and  vocabulary. 

Hence,  their  "church  order,"  being ''sutliciently  divine  by 
the  maimer  in  which  it  took  its  rise  in  New  England,"  has  so 
far  permeated  Presbyterianisrn  itself,  as  to  subsist  at  times  im- 
der  its  shadow  and  to  increasingly  revolutionize  all  that  was 
formerly  reliable :  iu)t  only  by  its  spurious  effects  upon  govern- 
ment, but  extensively  in  doctrine  and  especially  in  the  matter 
and  manner  of  praise  in  divine  worship. 

Here  tlien,  beyond  i)aucity  of  material,  a  limited  field  and 
local  hostility,  while  the  writer  cannot  harmonize  with  the 
largest  portion  of  the  Presbyterian  family  in  the  United  States, 
who,  from  the  standpoint  of  their  own  ecclesiastical  constitution 
for  the  first  fifty  years  of  their  l)istory  (the  Westminster  Stand- 
ards), especially  in  tlu^  matter  and  manner  of  divine  praise  in 
religious  worship,  have  become  not  a  little  Congregationalized — 
his  task  is  still  much  more  difficult.  Sir,  by  "  thus  saying  thou 
reproachest  us  also. "    (Luke  xi.  45.) 


8 


PREFACE. 


This offencplm  would  dosiroaacrodlyto  avoid,  did  truth  pormlt. 
*'  It  is  im|)()ssibh',  but  that  olToiicrs  will  come  "  (Luke  xvii.  1), 
and  while"  woe  is  unto  him  throuKh  whom  they  come" yet,  by 
presenting  those  symbols  of  Uw  eonunon  I'lcsbyterian  I'iiith, 
which  have  stood  the  test  ot  tune  lor  cenluiies,  jind  n(»tinf?  (h'- 
partures  from  them  as  they  hav(!  arisen,  the  diversity  of  secta- 
rian divisions  domiciled  by  the  elasticity  of  conscience  in  our 
iijT*',  under  the  Jiame  can  be  thus  more  iutelligently  arranged 
and  correctly  value<l.  Heside  this,  here  we  especially  see,  Llie 
vast  disadvantajje  under  vvhich  Presbyterians  are  placed  in  New 
England,  while  they  with  their  nioial  worth,  industry  and  zeal 
support  that  civil  fjovernnient  vvhich  is  snii[)osed  to  i)rotect  them 
iu  the  enjoyment  of  liberty  and  tlie  i)ursnit  of  happiness. 

Again,  in  order  that  the  reader  may  be  aided  in  ascertaining 
what  Congregationalism  is  and  in  discovering  tlu;  utter  irrecon- 
cilability of  the  two  species,  it  and  Presbyterian  ism,  the  author 
liere  presents  from  the  pens  of  their  own  writers,  mider  the 
fornu'r  i)()lity, 'first,  the  ''covenant,"  which  isthecorner-stono  of 
their  ulliliated  superstructure,  the  germ,  the  mother  one  of  their 
existence. 

The  first  church  Boston  "  was  gathered  August  27th,  1030, 
vuider  the  following  Covenant :  "  In  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  iu  obedience  to  his  holy  will  and  divine  ordinance,— 
We,  whose  names  are  hereunder  written,  being  by  his  most 
wise  and  good  providence  brought  together  into  this  part  of 
America,  in  the  Bay  of  Massachusetts;  and  desirous  to  unite 
ourselves  into  one  congregation  or  church  under  the  Lord  Jesu3 
Christ,  our  Head,  in  such  sort  as  becometh  all  those  whom 
he  hath  redeemed  aud  sanctified  unto  himself,  do  hereby  solemnly 
and  religiously  (as  in  his  most  holy  i>resence)  promise  and  bind 
ourselves  to  walk  in  all  our  ways,  according  to  the  rule  of  the 
gospel,  and  in  all  sincere  conformity  to  his  holy  ordiiuinces,  and 
m  mutual  love  aud  respect  to  each  other,  so  near  as  God  shall 
give  us  grace." 

This  "  Covenant  "  remains  unchanged,  although  the  church 
is  now  Unitarian,  as  is  also  the  first  church  of  their  order,  that 
of  Salem,  Mass.    (Dr.  11.  Ellis.) 

Secondly.  The  following  clear  statement  is  given  235  years 
after  "  Congregationalism  took  its  rise  in  New  England,"  and 
to  it  the  writer  trusts,  no  exceptions  v/ill  be  taken,  as  tue  sys- 
tem is,  he  believes,  here  in  theory  fairly  i)resented.  It  is  from 
the  ''  Ev.  7Vac,,"  of  April  23d,  18(i4,  which  says  : 

"  A  writer  in  the  liecorder  of  this  week  thus  defines  Congrega- 
tionalism : 

"  The  indei)endent  churches  of  this  country  who  adhered  to 
the  faith  aud  worship  of  the  Puritans,  were  early  driven  l)y  their 
isolation  to  congregate  together  for  mutual  encouragement  and 
counsel.  This  necessity  originated  Congregationalism,  or  at 
least  first  gave  it  currency.  If  it  is  not  an  American  term  it 
came  into  general  use  first  in  this  country,  and  to  this  day  is 
but  little  used  among  our  English  brethren. 


PREFACE. 


9 


o 

ir 


•'  Its  tlioory  is  that  the  local  diuroli  i^arts  with  nnno  of  its  rijjlits 
to  .s('lt'-()rj?ani/iiti«)ii  and  scll'-^jovcniiiiciit  l)y  cons*'!!!,!!!^  to  tho 
usajjje  of  set'iviii^  ii(lvi(U'  i'lom  in  iu,lilH>i  in;;  (•huiclics,  in  (■(■rtaiu 
<;iis(S,  Wiicn  tln^  pastors  iind  dclc^falcs  oT  invited  chnrciu'S 
ass('inl)le,  tlic  convocation  is  called  an  Kcclesiaslical  ('tutin-il, 
whose  jn'ovince  is  to  jjfive  advice  only  on  the  subjects  leleired  to 
in  the  letter  missive.  It  has  no  judicial  or  le^Mslative  functions. 
It  can  bind  nobody  by  its  decision  without  the  c<>nsent  of  tliu 
jiarty.  It  has  no  authority  to  try,  or  punish,  or  to  perpetuates 
its  doiups  by  lu-rinauent  records."  IL  has  no  Manual  of  Discip- 
line, no  Kules  and  Orders  t  >  ;;oveni  its  proceedinj^s.  It  is  sini- 
l»ly  a  transie;it  convocation,  which  expires  forever  when  it  ad- 
journs without  day.  How  such  a  body  can  be  coidonmled 
with  an  Ecclesiastical  (Joint,  it  isditlicnltto  understand;  and 
yet  there  has  scarcely  been  an  important  council,  from  the  days 
of  Cotton  Mather  to  tlu'  present  time,  which  has  not  piit 
on  judicial  airs  and  assumed  to  appropriate  to  itself  the  terms 
of  established   couits. 

''It  is  a  beautiful  exhibition  of  Christian  liberty  and  cliurch 
order  when  brethren,  or  local  chui'ches.  •  heir  jierplexities 
or  their  important  movements,  call  to;j;ether  their  sympathizing 
neighbors,  who  are  i)erliai's  as  well  informed  of  the  facts  in  tlio 
case  as  the  parties  themselv(>s,  and  bett«'r  (lualilied  to  judge, 
simply  to  ask  their  fraternal  (M)unsel,  without  the  forms  or 
pleading  or  of  trial.  Advice,  when  so  given,  in  the  spirit  of  the 
system,  is  more  truly  i)otent  than  any  decision.s  of  (ieneral 
Assemblies,  or  orders  (d'  the  Bishop,  or  bulls  of  the  Pope. 

"  In  these  times  of  progressive  lil)erty,  it  is  vital  to  the  exist- 
ence'of  the  Congregational  jiolity  that  the  simplicity  of  its  theory 
should  be  i)erpetuated  in  its  jyractice.  Pure  Congregationalism 
will  not  bear  the  least  mixture  of  authority  from  without  the 
independent  church.  The  touch  even  of  Const)ciatioJi  soils 
it.  If  the  churches  do  not  like  the  action  of  councils,  the 
remedy  is  always  easy ;  they  have  only  to  fall  back  upon  their 
Independence.  If  a  code  of  laws  is  thought  to  be  needful  for 
;heir  government,  they  may  well  take  one  of  the  numerous  sy.s- 
tems  already  <'xtant  in  other  denominations— it  matters  little 
which.  David  would  probably  have  lived  about  as  long  if  he 
had  gone  out  into  the  valley  of  Elah,  with  Saul's  armor  on,  to 
meet  Goliath,  as  Congregationalism  can  at  the  pr(!sent  time,  with 
a  code  of  statutes  and  precedents  and  ecclesiastical  lawyers  to 
enforce  them."  That  these  polities  are  distinct  s|)ecies,  which 
can  never  be  transmuted,  the  subse(pient  historical  statements 
will  verify,  while  their  specific  intluences  upon  the  welfare  of 
man  maybe  extensively  learned  ;  where  the  one  has  had  the  full 
oi)i)ortunity  of  developing  its  entire  nature  and  tendencies,  of 
which  the  other,  on  the  same  soil,  has  been  by  it  deprived. 

"  The  question  is  always,  not  whether  accomplisliments,  and 
virtues  and  piety  exist  within  this  or  that  system,  but  simply 
whether  the  system  itself  be  good  or  evil''  (Isaac  Taylor). 
Hoping,  that  imperfect  as  it  necessarily  is,  it  may  stimulate  the 


1 1 


10 


PREFACE. 


inquirer  after  truth,  in  distinguishing  things  that  differ,  to 
"  earnestly  contend  for  the  faith  whicli  was  onee  delivered  unto 
the  saints ;  "  in  subserviency  to  the  honor  of  her  King  and  the 
glory  of  the  Head  of  the  Cliurch,  this  work  is  submitted  to  tlie 
candor  of  the  reader,  by 

The  Author. 

Philadelphia,  1881. 


T 


INTRODUCTION. 


Pilgrim  Fntlicrs — Tlicir  Cliiirch  order  defective — Presbyterianisra 
— W;il(leiises  —  Calvin — Knox  —  (Scotland — England — Puritans — 
Ireland — Comparative  Notice — Sliawmnt— Tlie  Pnritans — Biaek- 
.stoiie—  lu'presentalion — Mr>.  Hnleliinson — A  Synod  —  Wood  bridge 
— ILrv'tic-i — TJie"  J'^agle  Wing" — A  Providential  Return — Clarke's 
^Vlla^^ — Kirst  Stoves — Scotch  Bondmen — Scot's  Charitable  So- 
ciety. 

Ox  tlio  mere  mention  of  Now  En!];land,  onr  thoughts  are 
immediately  direeted  to  "  Plymouth  Hock." 

Tliere,  not  only  was  the  civil  i)oiity,  but,  also,  the 
"church  order"  of"  tlio  old  colony  "  adopted  ;  and  what- 
(^ver  mii^ht  liiivo  heen  "the  form  of  sound  words  "  chosen 
by  earlier  emiirrants,  if  there  were  any,  to  neighboring 
localities,  "  the  Pil.nrim  Fathers  "  on  landing  at  tliat  spot, 
selected  and  determined  their  future  ecclesiastical  govern- 
ment. 

Notwithstanding  the  influences,  to  some  extent,  of  the 
specific  religious  views  of  their  previous  pastor,  the  Rev. 
John  Koi>inson,  l>eing  a  people  extensively  familiar  with 
the  Bible  in  its  varied  ndajitations,  in  doctrine,  worship 
and  d!scij^line,  tiiey  i)rej)ared  for  themselves  a  code  of 
church  [ol'ty  almost  wholly  in  unison  with  the  teachings 
of  the  word  of  (iod. 

For  their  views  of  sound  doctrine  and  their  scriptural 
order  of  j^overmnent,  they  were  previously  on  the  Conti- 
nent extensively  indebted  to  the  labors  of  John  Knox  in  a. 
former  general !(.)n.  I  refer  to  this,  tlunr  chosen  system,  as 
the  fir.st  tangible  outline  of  doctrine,  worshij)  ami  of  ecele- 
siastieal  or-.ler  adoptt'd  in  those  colonies,  which  eventually 
formed  New  l'jv:land — the  history  of  Presbyterianism  in 
which  I  undertake  {  D.  V, )  to  write.  First,  "As  to  faith  and 
the  holy  siieraments — they  believed  the  Doctrinal  Articles 
of  the  Church  of  England,  as  also  of  the  lt(dbrmed 
Chr.r;'hes  of  Scotland,  Ireland,  France,  the  Palatinate^ 
ri:r.-'.eva,  Switzerland  and  the  United  Provinces,  to  be 
agreeable  to  the  holy  oracles:  allowing  all  the  pious  mera- 

(11) 


TT 


12 


INTRODUCTION. 


i  I 


bors  of  the  cliurchcs  commnnion  with  them,  find  differing 
from  them  onlv  in  matters  imrehj  ecclesiastical.^^ — {Prince^ 
K  K.  Chron.,  vol  i.,  p.  91.) 

The  successor  of  Mr.  Francis  Johnston  as  pastor  in  Am- 
sterdam in  1594-5,  was  "  the  learned  Ainsworth."  He 
prepared  a  version  of  the  Psalms  in  metre.  These  the 
Pilgrims  in  all  their  pilgrimage  used.  In  their  "perils  in 
the  deep  and  perils  in  the  wilderness"  they  gave  to  "God 
the  fruit  of  their  lips,"  and  "let  the  word  of  Christ  dwell 
in  them  richly,"  not  in  the  sickly  sentimental  tones  of 
modern  organ-lofts,  but  from  the  fulness  of  hearts  made 
joyful  by  the  Rock  of  their  salvation.  In  their  adopted 
version  tlie  poetry  was  very  defective,  yet  for  sixty  years  it 
continued  to  be  the  psalmody  of  the  First  Church  in  Ply- 
mouth. In  the  utterance  of  their  praise  to  God  as  an 
act  of  worshi[),  they  sang  by  note  ;  and  while  the  version  of 
Ainsworth  continued  to  be  used,  tliey  sa'^g  without  reading 
the  line.     Their  church  order  is  thus  recorded: 

"  Rule  3d,  of  church  government:  sec.  Gth. 

"  That  the  oflicers  appointed  by  Christ  for  this  imbodied 
church  are,  in  some  respects,  of  three  sorts:  in  others  but 
two,  viz.;  1.  Pastors,  or  teaching  elders,  who  have  the 
power  both  of  overseeing,  teaching,  administering  the 
sacraments,  and  ruling  too,  and  being  chiefly  to  give  them- 
selves to  studying,  teaching  and  the  spiritual  care  of  the 
flock,  are,  therefore,  to  be  maintained. 

"2.  Mere  ruling  elders,  who  are  to  help  the  pastor  in  over- 
seeing and  ruling;  that  their  offices  be  not  temporary,  as 
among  the  Dutch  and  French  churches,  but  continual. 
And  being  also  (pialified  in  some  degree  to  teach,  they  ara 
to  teach  only  occasionally,  through  necessity,  or  in  the- 
pastor's  absence,  or  illness ;  but,  being  not  to  give  them- 
selves to  study,  or  teaching,  they  have  no  need  of  mainte- 
nance. That,  the  elders  of  both  sorts  form  the  presbytery 
of  overseers  and  rulers,  which  should  be  in  every  particu- 
lar church,  and  are  in  Scripture  sometimes  called  presby- 
ters or  elders,  sometimes  bishops  or  overseers,  sometimes 
guides,  and  sometimes  rulers.  3.  Deacons,  who  are  to 
take  care  of  the  poor,  and  of  the  church's  treasure,  to  dis- 
tribute for  the  support  of  the  pastor,  the  supply  of  the 
needy,  the  propagation  of  religion,  and  to  minister  at  the 
Lord's  table."    {Prince,  N.  E.  Chron.,  p.  92.)    In  this,  so 


INTRODUCTION. 


13 


far  as  It  extends,  we  find  pure  Presbytcrianism  defective 
only  in  two  essentials,  that  of  supplanting  tlie  ministra- 
tions of  the  ruling  elders  at  the  I^ord's  table  by  the  inferior 
order  of  deacons,  who  in  this  arrangement  are  thrust  into 
the  office  of  tiieir  superiors,  and  in  consequence  of  which, 
as  the  elders  were  thus  shorn  of  their  most  solemn  official 
duty  and  honor,  the  office  was  eventually  by  the  same  in- 
trusion, totally  superseded  in  New  England. 

This  otherwise  scriptural  order  of  government  was  also 
defective  from  its  isolated  ])osition,  having  no  court  of 
reference,  review,  appeal,  nor  of  iinal  decision — nothing  be- 
yond mere  advice.  It  consequently  bore  within  itself  the 
seeds  of  dissolution,  the  germinating  of  which  caused  Jon- 
athan Edwards  to  declare,  "  I  have  long  been  out  of  con- 
ceit of  our  unsettled,  independent,  confused  way  of  church 
government  in  this  land." 

Presbytcrianism,  while  it  has  been  extensively  retained 
in  much  of  its  early  scrij^tural  simplicity  from  apostolic 
times  till  to-day,  by  tiie  faithful  Waldenses,  had,  at  tiie 
commencement  of  the  seventeenth  century,  in  those  lands, 
which  then  enjoyed  the  labors  of  the  Reformers  and  their 
successors,  but  partially  recovered  from  its  oblivious  sleep 
during  ''  the  dark  ages." 

As  early  as  a.  d.  1585,  the  immortal  Calvin  had,  in  his 
"  Institutes  of  Religion  "  (including  doctrine,  worship,  and 
discipline),  presented  the  scriptural  form  of  church  gov- 
ernment; and  from  a.  d.  1541  till  a.  d.  1564,^  he  successfully 
labored  to  apply  this  ecclesiastical  polity  in  the  scene  of 
his  ministry. 

John  Knox  returned  from  Geneva  to  Scotland  in  April, 
A.  D.  1559,  and  the  First  Reforming  General  Assembly 
of  the  Kirk  of  Scotland  met  in  Edinburgh  on  Dec.  20th, 
A.  D.  1560.  In  their  First  Book  of  Discipline,  "the  great 
lines  of  Presbyterian  government  and  discipline  were 
marked  out," 

It  was  ''  ratified  and  established  by  an  act  of  Parliament 
in  A.  D.  1567 — as  the  public  and  avowed  Confession  of 
Faith  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,"  and  afterwards  further 
established  and  confirmed  by  acts  of  Parliament,  and  by 
lawful  General  Assemblies — until,  in  that  realm,  it  was 
superseded  by  the  Confession  of  Faith  agreed  upon  by  the 
Assembly  of  Divines  at  Westminster,  as  examined  and  ap- 


m 


I 


II  i 


<4^ 


14 


INTRODUCTION. 


proved  in  a.  d.  1G47,  by  tlio  Church  of  Scotland,, and  rati- 
fied by  act  of  Parliiiniont  in  a.  d.  ]()49. 

En<iland  had  preceded  Scotland  in  the  Reformation  ;  but 
had  by  no  means  obtained  equal  purity. 

The.  doctrine  of  her  church  respeetinff  the  leading  truths 
of  the  gospel,  as  laid  down  in  the  ihirty-nine  articles, 
"vvhich  are  commonly  called  doctrinal,  was,  for  substance, 
the  same  with  that  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  (excepting 
on  the  tenets  of  the  imi)Utation  of  the  guilt  of  the  first  sin 
of  Adam  to  his  posterity,  and  the  im])Utation  of  tl:(i 
righteousness  of  Christ  to  the  elect) :  but  her  Avorship  was 
disfigured  by  a  great  nund)er  of  Popish  sui)erstitions. 

The  Romisli  prelacy  was  retained  in  her  form  of  gov- 
ernment. The  supremacy  of  the  Pojje  was  indeed  re- 
nounced; but,  the  sovereign  was  const' Uited  supreme 
head  of  the  church,  in  all  causes  ecclesiastical. 

Many,  who  were  nearly  of  the  same  principles  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland,  and  who  consequently  were  dissatis- 
fied with  these  corruptions,  struggled  for  the  further  refor- 
mation of  the  National  Church  of  England ;  but,  without 
success. 

"  The  Queen  and  Bishops  growing  more  severe  on  the 
PMr?7a/w,  it  only  alienates  them  more  from  the ///era /r^y, 
as  well  as  the  ceremonies^  and  turns  their  minds  to  the  Pres- 
byterian Discipline.  And  though  many  of  their  clergy  were 
deprived  and  silenced.  ;i:et  many  others  by  the  favor  of 
several  great  men  iu  court  and  council  stay  in  their  places 
upon  using  the  less  otiensive  parts  of  the  liturgy,  -without 
subscription.  And  now  Bancroft  and  Cowell  tell  us,  that, 
on  Nov.  20th,  1572,  this  Puritan  part  of  the  clergy  began  to 
erect  a  Presbytery  at  Wandswtjrth,  in  Surrey  ;  Avhicli  Ful- 
ler says  was  the  first-born  of  all  Presbyteries  in  England, 
and  names  sixteen  of  the  clergy  belonging  to  it ;  that  INlay 
8th,  1582,  there  was  a  synod  of  sixty  ministers  of  Cam- 
bridgeshire, Suffolk  and  Norfolk  at  Cockfield,  in  Sufl'olk  ; 
and  the  summer  following  another  in  Cambridge  at  the 
commencement;  that  April  10th,  1588,  there  was  another 
of  the  Warwickshire's  classis  at  Coventry;  that  by  Sept. 
1st,  1590,  the  Presbyterian  Discipline  so  grew  in  the  church, 
that  their  classes  spread  into  diverse  other  parts  of  the 
kingdom  and  had  their  Assemblies  at  London,  Cambridge, 
Oxford,  Northampton,  Kittery,  Warwick,  Rutland,  Leices- 


I 


INTRODUCTION. 


15 


ter,  Norfolk,  SufTolk,  Essex  and  other  places:  but  in  1591, 
the  Pligh  Commii^sion  and  Star  Chamber  courts  dissolved 
them.  In  the  spring  of  1603,  there  were  750  ministers  (t.  g., 
church  ministers)  in  twenty- five  of  the  forty  counties  in 
England,  and  twelve  of  Wales,  who  petitioned  King 
James  1st,  to  remove  the  ceremonies,  the  publick  reading 
of  the  books  of  the  Apocrypha,  Nonresidence,  Pluralities, 
and  the  Popish  canons.  And  Rushworth  tells  us  that  in 
](;2G,  the  country  was  so  overspread  with  Puritans,  that 
A\'illiams,  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  would  not  meddle  against 
them,  and  Said,  he  was  sure  they  would  carry  all  at  the 
last.  Yet  all  this  time  there  were  but  few  separations  from 
the  established  church,  nor  would  the  law  allow  them  in 
England  till  King  William's  time."     (Prince,  N.  E.  Chron.j 

iStill,  their  labor  was  not  lost,  for  their  efforts  were  much 
blessed,  as  means  of  promoting  the  real  interests  of  rcli^don 
in  that  kingdom,  and  preparing  the  way  for  the  reforma- 
tion which  followed. 

These  were  commonly  called  Puritans.  The  name  was 
probably  given  in  a.  d.  1564,  and  was  designed  to  stigma- 
tize those  who  did  not  conform  to  the  Episcopal  liturgy, 
etc.,  etc.  Afterwards  when  Arminianism  arose,  they 
were  called  doctrinal  Puritans ;  and  the  term  became  a 
stigma  for  all  Christians  who  were  sound  and  pure  "  in 
the  faith." 

In  Ireland,  although  the  great  body  of  the  natives  con- 
tinued to  be  Papists,  a  considerable  part  of  the  people  who 
were  descended  from  English  ancestors  embraced  the  refor- 
mation, nearly  after  the  model  of  their  mother  country, 
and  while  many  emigrants  froiji  Scotland  had  settled  in 
that  kingdom  (and  multiplied  until  afterward,  in  1734, 
they  numbered  700,000)  and  retained  the  profession  and 
worship  of  the  Scottish  church ;  yet  Episcopacy  was  es- 
tablished by  law  in  that  part  of  the  British  empire. 

In  attempting  to  purify  the  Anglican  establishment,  the 
Puritans,  finding  their  labors  unsuccessful,  a  part  of  them 
removed  from  "  the  tents  of  Kedar,"  and  a  church  colony 
of  their  people  reached  Holland  in  a.  d.  1608. 

After  sojourning  a  year  in  Amsterdam  they  removed  to 
Leyden.  "In  1609,  Mr.  Robinson's  church  there  chose 
Mr.  Brewster  assistant  to  him  in  the  place  of  an  elder,^^ 


m 


m 


I 

'I! 


16 


INTRODUCTION. 


(Prince,  p.  20.)  Finding  licentiousness  prevalent,  their 
sons  often  leavinj?  them  to  be  soldiers  and  sailors  in  the 
Dutch  service;  and  fearin<j;,  that  in  a  few  years,  their  chil- 
dren would  have  become  Dutch  and  tlieir  church  become 
extinct,  they,  in  1617,  began  to  think  of  removing  to 
America.  And  in  1G20  they  record,  "the  greater  number 
to  stay  with  Mr.  Robinson  at  Leyden.  Their  elder  Mr. 
Brewster  to  go  with  the  other  party.  Those  who  go  first 
to  be  an  absolute  church  of  themselves  as  well  as  those 
that  stay:  with  this  proviso,  that  as  any  go  over  or  re- 
turn, they  shall  be  reputed  as  members,  without  further 
dismission  or  testimonial,  and  those  who  tarry  to  follow 
the  rest  as  soon  as  they  can."     {Prince,  p.  66.) 

The  history  of  their  designs,  sufferings  and  successes, 
until  they  adopted  their  "order  of  church  government," 
has  been  all  gratefull}-^  chronicled  by  their  descendants — 
and  it  is  doubtful,  if  time  can  ever  obliterate  the  interest- 
ing story. 

lie  this  as  it  may,  we  return  to  their  "  church  order,"  as 
our  only  tangible  point  of  departure,  and  with  the  previous 
comparative  notice  of  its  want  of  identity  with  Presbyter- 
ianism  the  writer  shall  now  attempt  to  trace  the  intro- 
duction, growth,  decay,  revival  and  present  mission  of  the 
latter  ecclesiastical  polity  into  and  in  New  England. 

We  have  had  our  attention  directed  to  Plymouth  Rock, 
yet  but  a  very  small  proportion  of  the  population  of  New 
England  are  the  descendants  of  those  who  made  it  mem- 
orable, and  who  became  the  founders  of  "  the  old  colonv." 
As  the  tidings  of  the  prosperity  of  the  "  Pilgrims,"  reached 
their  native  land,  encouraged  by  "  good  news  from  a  for 
country,"  colonies  of  Purit.an  emigrants  pre])ared  in  a  few 
years  to  follow  them.  Of  these,  the  most  important  was 
that  of  Massachusetts  bay,  which  witii  a  royal  charter, 
and  many  of  the  conveniences  of  life  (so  far  as  they  were 
then  known)  made  their  final  settlement  on  the  Peninsula 
of  Shaivmut. 

Here,  an  ecclesiastical  transition  took  place,  of  which  we 
present  an  account  in  appendix  A.  ^^  Ceremony  mongers^ 
says  Mather  (Mag.,  vol.  i.,  pp.  249,  250),  "  drove  these  wor- 
thy men  out  of  their  native  country  into  the  horrid 
thickets  of  America — and  the  first  planters  in  New  Eng- 
land at  their  first  coming  over,  did,  in  a  public  and  printed 


IXTRODUCTTOX. 


17 


iched 
a  far 

ti  few 

was 

irter, 

were 

isula 

[\\  we 

wor- 
lorrid 

Eng- 
liiited 


arldroPR,  call  the  Clmrch  of  Enfjland  their  dear  mother,  de- 
pirinfT  their  friends  therein,  to  "  recommend  them  unto  the 
mercies  of  God,  in  their  constant  prayers,  as  a  church  now 
sprinLnntj  out  of  their  own  howels  ;  nor  did  they  think 
that  it  was  their  mntJicr  wiio  turned  them  out  of  doors,  but 
some  of  their  an<.';ry  brethren,  abusing  the  name  of  their 
motlier,  wiio  so  harshly  tr(>;ited  them," 

Previous  to  ^anding  and  while  they  were  engaged  in  pre- 
])aring  places  if  habitation,  the  less  objectionable  portions 
of  tlie  Ei)iscopal  prayer  book  were  in  use  on  each  Sabbath 
among  the  lifteon  hundred  persons  on  board  of  the  four- 
teen ships  in  wliich  they  had  at  different  times  arrived. 
Now,  a  cliasm  ensues — and  we  find  them  some  time  after 
landing,  no  longer  Episcopalians,  but  Congregationalists. 
A  wide  remove  was  soon  made  from  tlie  form,  under  which 
tliey  had  been  trained  in  their  native  land. 

Blackstone,  who  (so  far  as  is  known)  was  the  first  white 
man  Avho  slept  on  Shawmut,  and  who  claimed  the 
whole  i)eninsula,  for  thus  upon  it  obeying  the  demands  of 
nature,  although  a  stern  E])iscopalian,  was  not  a  thorough 
Conformist,  and  he  told  the  newcomers,  "that,  he  came 
from  England,  because  he  did  not  like  the  Lords  Bishops; 
but,  he  could  not  join  with  them  (the  Governor  and  colon- 
ists) because  he  did  not  like  the  Lt)rds  Brethren."  To  avoid 
their  "theocracy,"  he  retired  to  a  life  of  solitude  on  its 
banks  and  g  ive  his  name  to  the  Blackstone  river.  (Hutch- 
inson''s  Hist,  of  ]\[a.<^.,  p.  26.) 

On  the  arrival  of  the  Rev.  John  Cotton  (with  the  Rev. 
Messrs.  Hooker  and  Stone)  in  1633,  "the  Governor  and 
council  and  elders  in  Boston  received  him  for  their 
teacher,  in  which  office  he  was  ordained  and  installed 
October  17th,  in  the  same  year. 

"  Mr.  Thomas  Leverett,an  ancient  member  of  Mr.  Cotton's 
church  in  P^ngland,  Avas  at  the  same  time  ordained  ruling 
<dder."  "  The  order  of  proceeding  in  INIr.  Cotton's  ordina- 
tion was  intended  as  a  precedent,  and  the  Congregational 
churches  of  New  England  have  generally  conformed  there- 
to ever  since."  (Hut.,  yt.  88.)  Cotton  had  officiated  for 
twenty  years  in  "  holy  orders,"  yet,  when  he  became  iden- 
tified with  this  new  form  of  ecclesiastical  polity,  they  gave 
him  a  new  ordination.  Hooker,  "  a  preacher  of  great  ce- 
lebrity," in  like  manner  received  antiprelatical  and  anti- 
2 


m 


m 


18 


INTRODUCTION. 


presbyterian  ordination.  This  new  form  became  enfliirinf]^ 
witliout  "tiictual  succession."  As  the  froemen  of  tlio  col- 
ony were  so  increased  in  a.  d.  1634,  that,  it  was  ini practi- 
cable to  debate  and  determine  niatlcrs  in  a  body,  tlu> 
Presbyterian  element  of  rejiresentation  was  forced  upon 
thorn  in  their  civil  allairs,  as  a  necessity,  but,  no  provision 
"had  been  made  for  it  in  their  charter."     (//>.,  j).  40.) 

A  similar  necessity  was  soon  forced  upon  them  in  their 
ecclesiastical  matters  also — "for  which,  no  provision  had 
been  made  in  their  charter,"  When  "Mrs.  Hutchinson 
set  up  meetings  of  the  sisters  and  sixty  or  eighty  prin- 
cipal women  attended  them,"  it  was  found  necessary 
to  resort  to  Presbyterial  order  (at  least  in  part)  and  to 
ignore  a  usage  of  our  modern  (.'ongregational  churches 
(then  unknown)  "  the  result  of  council." 

Mere  advice  and  recommendation, 'ministers  and  elders 
knew  from  the  Scriptures,  were  not  the  order  "  in  the  house 
of  God,  which  is  the  church  of  the  living  (Jod,  the  pillar 
and  ground  of  the  truth,"  and  "  in  a.  d.  1637,  a  synod  was 
called  and  held,  before  which,  Mrs.  Hutchinson  was 
charged  with  two  errors.  1.  That  the  Holy  Ghost  dwells 
personally  in  a  justified  person — and  2.  That  nothing  of 
sanctifica'tion  can  help  to  evidence  to  believers,  their  jus- 
tification."   illuL,  p.  57.) 

In  that  synod  (which  was  commenced  on  the  30th  day 
of  August  and  continued  three  weeks)  above  eighty  points 
or  opinions  were  condemned  as  erroneous.  The  "de- 
crees "  of  this  synod  were  signed  by  all  the  members  ex- 
cepting Mr.  Cotton.  He  maintained,  that  union  to  Christ 
preceded  faith  in  him.  (//>.,  p.  ()8.)  Ministers  and  elders 
(not  deacons)  constituted  that  synod  ;  and  in  their  whole 
polity,  as  thus  founded,  "the  elders  had  great  influence 
with  the  pcoi)le.  When  the  great  influence  of  Mr.  Cotton 
inclined  Mr.  Hooker  to  go  to  Connecticut,  to  be  out  of  his 
reach,  they,  the  people,  by  aid  of  the  elders  carried  the 
point."  {lb.,  p.  47.)  Presbytcrianism  crei)t  so  closely  into 
all  their  church  and  educational  matters,  that  the  civil 
power  alone  could  at  times  prevent  its  influ(Miccs. 
"  On  February  22d,  1633,  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Roger  W'illiams 
and  Skelton,  of  Salem,  were  afraid,  lest  an  association  of 
ministers  in  and  about  Boston,  who  met  once  a  fortnight 
at  each  other's  house,  may  tend  to  promote  Presbyterian- 


n'  ^| 


INTUODUCTIOX. 


19 


iism  and  so  cn(lan<]:or  the  liberty  of  the  ehnrchcs."  (Felty 
JIi.-<t.  of  Sakm.)  ''In  1()42,  nine  persons  (the  iirst  grudu- 
ating  class)  left  Harvard. 

"Bcnjatnin  WoodhridL'e,  the  first-horn  of  that  college 
(who  became  successor  to  Dr.  Twisscjit  Newbury  j,  altliough 
inclined  to  I'reshyterianisni — (to  use  Mr.  Mather's  wordsj, 
was  not  maliL'nantly  all'ected."  (lb.,  \).  107.) 

While  "  Congregationalism  took  its  rise  in  New  Eng- 
land," it  was  in  due  time  carried  to  England;  and  "  the 
oldest  churcii  of  the  Congregiitional  order  in  London,"  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Joseph  Parker's,  was  founded  in  1640,  by  Dr. 
Thos.  Goodwin,  PresiiU'nt  of  Magdalen  College, Oxford,  and 
afterward  chajilain  to  Cromwell.  (Vhridian  Imir.,  Feb, 
lOtii,  1(S77.)  '"  The  Pilgrims,  with  their  elders  and  deacons 
had  a  different  order  in  1020,  and  the  '  ecclesiastical  tran- 
sition,' noticed,  by  wliich  Elpiscopalians  became  Congrega- 
tionalists,  confirms  the  position,  that  'it  took  its  rise  in 
New  England.' " 

Although  they  had  no  bishop  nearer  than  London,  they 
(according  to  the  Papal  order  in  England)  divided  the 
Bay  colony  into  parishes,  each  having  its  "  church  of  the 
parish."  ''Of  the  22,000  emigrants  who  came  over  before 
1640,  no  less  than  4,000  it  is  said  had  been  Presbyterians 
in  England,"  and  while  this  persuasion  were  so  far  in  the 
minority,  yet  the  first  churches,  such  as  Salem,  Charlestown 
and  Boston  had  ruling  elders,  possibly  by  way  of  com- 
promise, and  in  1646,  the  ministers,  with  probably  an 
elder  from  each  church,  met  in  synod  at  Cambridge,  5Lass. 

They  "came  together,  not  to  enact  a  code  of  ecclesiasti- 
cal laws,  not  even  to  construct  an  original  system  of 
church  polity,  but  simply  to  compare  notes  and  usages, 
and  commit  to  writing  that  system  which  had  already 
sjirung  into  use  among  them,  and  thus  make  a  declaration 
of  the  church  order,  w'l.erein  the  good  hand  of  God  had 
moulded  them."  Ilence,  "  the  manner  in  which  Congre- 
gationalism took  its  rise  in  New  England  renders  it  suffi- 
ciently divine."  (Bofiton  OhrUtian  Observatory,  vol.  i., 
no.  8,  Aug.,  1847,  indorsed  by  the  Year  Book  of  Congrega- 
tionalism for  1853.) 

"Those  who  lived  in  the  next  age,  speak  of  this,  as  the 
aurea  aetas  (golden  age)  when  religion  and  virtue  flour- 
ished."   {Hut,  p.  91.) 


20 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  ministry,  supported  morally  by  the  scriptural  order 
of  rulirif?  eiders  arul  in  ten)))oral  atlairs  i)y  the  stronj^  arm  of 
the  civil  law,  under  their  theocniey,  were  now,  not  only  re- 
spected in  the  colonies,  iiut,  some  of  them  were  invited  to 
return  and  assist  in  deliherations  in  Great  Britain.  "Cot- 
ton, Hooker,  and  I)avenj)ort  were  invited  to  the  Westmin- 
ster assenil)Iy  in  IVAo. 

"Cotton  would  have  gone,  hut  h'^  had  no  company. 
Davenport,  of  New  Haven,  would  have  gone,  but  his  con- 
gregation having  but  one  minister  could  not  spare  him. 
Hooker  did  not  like  the  business  "  (7/"^,  }).  112);  and  as 
Congregationalism  often  on  the  popular  breath  makes  a 
man  absolute  and  affords  ample  scope  for  ambition,  so  he, 
remembering  doubtless  the  dominant  swa}'  of  Mr.  Cotton 
at  Boston,  and  the  opportunity  which  was  now  offered  to 
liim,  to  be  at  least  his  peer,  in  a  sister  colony,  "  was  about 
that  time  framing  a  system,  or  plan  of  church  government, 
which  was  dcfiigncd  for  the  New  England  churclicx,  let  the 
determination  at  Westminster  be  what  it  would."  iJh., 
p.  112.)  In  his  oj)inion  they  had  as  yet,  reniemijer,  no 
plan  of  church  government  in  "the  New  England 
churches." 

Vast  events  are  at  times  suspended  on  trifling  consider- 
ations— the  want  of  company  on  the  part  of  Cotton  ;  the 
want  of  an  ardent  desire  for  the  welfare  of  the  entire  church 
in  the  British  Empire  on  the  ])art  of  a  congregation  at 
New  Haven,  and  the  spirit  of  "  Diotrephes"  in  Hooker,  pre- 
vented the  identifying  of  these  ministers,  with  the  only 
grand  inquest  of  competent  men,  made  under  vow,  on  the 
systematic  doctrinal  teachings  of  the  word  of  God,  which 
was  ever  held. 

"  I,  A.  B.,  do  solemnly  vow,  that  in  this  assembly  of 
which  I  am  a  member,  I  will  set  down  nothing  in  doctrine, 
but  what  is  most  agreeable  to  God's  word,  and  nothing  in 
form  of  discipline  but  what  will  make  most  for  God's 
glory." 

If  they  had  gone  thither,  imbibed  the  spirit  of  the  as- 
sembly and  returned  with  it  to  bless  New  England — possi- 
bly, the  sword  of  persecution  might  ( in  these  colonies)  have 
slept  in  its  scabbard — or,  they  might  at  least  have  pre- 
vented those  "usages  of  the  churches,"  which  now  allow, 
by  a  figment  of  local  statute  law  under  their  Athenian 


IS 


I 


iNTnonrrTTox, 


21 


y  of 

jtrine, 


he  ns- 

possi- 

have 


flcmocrncy,  "nn  incronsc  of  sinful  mon  "  to  5?woop  awny  to 
tlie  niooiiiight  of  (Ihristianity,  to  Unitiiriunisin,  the  ond'ow- 
lucnts  estiihlishcfl  and  the  trusts?  created  hy  pious  persons, 
for  the  glory  of  God,  Father,  Son  and  Holy  (Jhost. 

I  say  possibly  only — for  tiicir  theocratic  form  of  union 
of  church  and  state  allorded  too  much  scope  to  the  am- 
hition  of  civil  rulers  here,  to  he  easily  foregone,  and  ''  the 
first  authoritative  and  ollirial  civil  action  against  I'reshy- 
terianism,  in  New  England,  was  taken  in  1()4M,  or  1G44, 
against  those,  who  wouKl  sustain  the  teachings  of  its  sym- 
bols"— for,  "several  persons,  wiio  came  from  England  in 
1()48,  made  a  muster  to  set  up  Presl)yt(!rian  government 
under  the  authority  of  the  asseml)ly  at  Westminster;  but, 
a  New  England  assembly,  the  General  court,  soon  i)Ut 
them  to  the  rout."  {Ih.,  p.  112.)  In  this,  we  see  the  atti- 
tude of  New  England  towards  Presbyterianism  from  the 
lirst.     It  must  not  be  tolerated. 

"  Lechford  in  1(541,  says,  of  late,  divers  of  the  ministry 
have  had  set  nicetings  to  order  church  matters,  V)y  which 
it  is  conceiviMl,  they  bend  towards  Presi)yterian  rule." 
{IIuL,  Boston,  1704.)  As  the  Star  Chamber,  in  1591,  extin- 
guished Presl)yterianism  in  England,  this  persuasion  were 
ecjually  powerless  in  New  England  under  tiie  theocracy. 
Tliere  for  generations  they  were  not  allowed  to  exist. 

"From  1G.'37  till  1656  they  had  general  quietness  on 
ecclesiastical  matters,  yet,  no  religious  o])ini()ns  but  their 
own  could  be  tolerated,  or,  they  wouKl  take  the  lives  of  here- 
tics:'     (Jlid.,  p.  ITo.) 

The  hand  of  Divine  Providence  prevented  such  a  mani- 
festation of  the  spirit  of  their  theocracy  in  one  i)articular 
case;  which  I  now  mention.  PresbyteriauM  in  Scotland, 
being  assured  by  letters,  that  they  miglit  exercise  tiieir 
church  government  in  New  England,  sent  over  an  agent 
who  pitched  upon  a  tract  of  land,  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Merrimac  river;  and  in  IGoO,  the  "Eagle  Wing,"  with  140 
])assengers,  accompanied  by  those  eminent  servants  of  God, 
Blair  and  Livingston,  sailed  from  Carrickfergus  to  found  a 
colony  of  Presbyterians  on  the  Merrimac.  The  overruling 
of  Divine  Providence  was  seen  in  the  failure  of  their  en- 
terj)rise.  By  stress  of  weather  the  vessel  was  forced  to 
put  back  and  the  project  was  abandoned. 

This  portion  of  the  wilderness  was  then  assigned  to  an- 


^f] 


^ili 


m 


I 


INTRODUCTION. 


m 


other  pooplo,  and  these  ministers  of  Christ  had  lar^ije  doors 
of  n.«efuhu'ss  opened  to  them,  in  nnd  on  helialf  of  their 
native  land  at  one  of  the  tryin;j;  periods  of  her  iiislory. 

It  was  providential  that  they  returned,  as  they  would 
assureflly,  notwithstanding  their  letters,  have  })e('n  driven 
otV,  if  they  had  found  their  way  to  tiie  Merrimae.  Noth- 
inj^  could  have  saved  them  then,  as  residents  in  New  Ku;;- 
land,  but  clanginj^  their  relifjion — and  they  were  not  the 
men,  nor  were  those  whom  they  accompanied  the  j)eople, 
to  do  this. 

Such  was  the  ovorrulincj  of  Divine  Providence  that  they 
were  (with  others)  instrumental  in  raising'  in  their  own 
land  a  peojjle,  who  nearly  a  century  afterwards  should 
come  to  tlu!  Merrimae  and  found  a  colony  of  Presbyterians, 
at  a  time  when  Preshyterianism  was  permitted  under  cer- 
tain conditions  to  exist  in  the  unclaimed  wilderness. 

With  the  hermetical  seal  of  the  sword  upon  Preshyte- 
rianism in  these  colonies,  those,  of  this  persuasion,  who,  as 
adventurers,  durinn;  this  century,  found  their  way  hither, 
liad  to  succumb  in  conscience  and  principle  to  the  "Lord's 
Brethren." 

Individuals  of  this  character  entered  the  colony  at  an 
early  period  in  its  history — and  Clarke's  street  and  Clarke's 
•wharf  in  Boston  }»erpetuate  the  name  of  one,  a  Scotch 
pliysician,  who  in  his  profession  accumulated  a  consider- 
able amount  of  ))roperty  in  the  town.  As  we  learn  from 
a  codicil  in  his  will,  he  in  all  probability,  first  substituted 
stoves  tor  open  fire-places  in  chimneys. 

But,  "tell  it  not  in  Gath,"  the  first  numerous  arrival  of 
Prusbvterians  in  New  England  after  a.  n.  1G40,  were  bond- 
nier.  "They  were  transj)orted  from  their  native  land  and 
sold  in  America,  for  fidelity  to  their  oaths  of  allegiance  to 
King  C;arles  the  Second.  Their  misfortunes  overtook 
them  for  a  great  fault.  They  had  sworn  to  their  own  hurt 
to  a  Papal  monarch,  and  tliey  would  not  change.  Not 
only  did  they  with  many  others  invite  him  to  ascend  his 
native  throne,  but,  they  were  disposed  to  aid  him  in  his 
ambition  to  restore  Popery  to  the  three  kingdoms,  and  for 
this  purpose  (most  blindly  it  would  seem)  placed  them- 
selves under  him  in  opposition  to  '  the  State  of  England.  ' 
It  was  therefore  (continues  Dr.  D'Aubigne)  a  remarkable 
and  a  sorrowful  spectacle,  which  might  then  be  viewed,  on 


INTRODUCTION. 


28 


and 

'Q  to 

ook 

uirt 

Not 

his 

his 

11  for 

icm- 

n.l. ' 

able 

oil 


tlio  hnrdors  of  Scotland;  one  Christian  army  advancing 
against  another  Cliristian  army. 

"This  sight  has  no  doubt  teen  too  often  witnessed  in 
liistory.  liut,  in  most  cases,  the  troops  which  march 
against  eacli  other  ar(^  Cliristian  only  in  name,  while  the 
two  forces  of  Scotland  and  England  j)ossesse(l  (to  speak 
generally)  both  the  spirit  and  the  reality  of  Christianity." 
Tliey  read  the  ni))le  in  the  same  tongue,  sung  the  songs  of 
Jiliorah  in  tiu;  same  version/*"  and  prayed  each  for  the 
overtlirow  of  tlie  otlier  to  the  same  (iod,  through  the  one 
Mediator. 

(iladly  would  I  say,  "publish  it  not  in  the  streets  of  As- 
kelon,"  for  at  such  a  spectacle  the  "  uncircumcised  tri- 
umph." Hut,  so,  it  was.  At  Duid)ar,  on  Se[)tember  .'}d, 
KmO,  the  Scotch  wer(^  discomfited,  besides  slaughtering 
•1,01)0  men,  ('roniW(.'ll  took  10,000  prisoners,  exclusive  of 
ollicers. 

Of  these  "the  Governors  of  the  kingdom"  banished  at 
least  a  great  number  to  the  colonies,  where  they  were  sold 
to  several  years  of  servitude  to  defray  the  expenses  of  their 
trans])ortation  ;  or,  to  increase  the  wealth  of  those  who 
bought  and  sold  them.  As  men  were  of  old  to  "buy 
fields  lor  money,  subscri1)e  evidences,  seal  them,  and  take 
Avitncsses  in  the  land  of  Ilenjamin  and  in  the  cities  of 
Judah  "  (Jer.  xxxii.  44),  so,  in  the  capital  of  New  Eng- 
land, Presbyterians  were  bought  for  money,  evidences 
subscribed  and  sealed,  and  witnesses  taken  in  the  trans- 
action, and  the  entire  matter  ])laccd  on  record,  as  if  they 
had  been  sim))ly  ))arcels  of  real  estate,  instead  of  living 
men.  By  ordinance  of  Parliament,  dated  the  20th  day 
of  October,  1051,  in  the  cargo  of  the  'iJohn  and  Sara," 
planters'  stuff,  provisions  and  Scotch  prisoners  were  im- 
j^orted  at  Boston  free  of  duty ;  and  at  the  recjuest  of 
Thomas  Kemblc,  the  consignee,  the  following  entry  was 
made  on  the  Registry  of  Deeds,  for  Suflblk  county,  Mass., 
on  the  13th  day  of  ^lay,  a.  d.  lbo'2. 

List  of  passengers  in  "the  John  and  Sara."  Of  two 
hundred  and  sixty-two  I  give  the  following  names: 


*  Cromwell  on  one  occasion,  on  the  Scottisli  border,  before  eiifrnpincr 
in  battle,  sang  with  his  army  the  117th  Psalm  in  the  Presbyterian  ver- 
sion, and  he  with  the  t)8th  led  his  men  to  victory  ut  Dunbar. 


I 


r 


T 


>  I 


24 


INTRODUCTION. 


Donald  Roye,  Jas.  Moore,  Walter  Jackson,  Daniel  Sim- 
son,  John  Rosse,  Daniel  Hogg,  Hugh  McKay,  John  Mc- 
Donnel,  Wm.  Stewart,  Alester  Grant,  David  Patterson. 

These  were  "Registered  at  Gravesend,  at  the  Search 
office,  on  Nov.  Sth,  1651,  by  John  Bradley,  Sealer,  with 
the  arms  of  the  Commonwealth,"  and  entered  in  Boston  as 
stated  above  by  "  F.  Edward  Rawson,  Recc^rder." 

"  Captain  Greene  had  orders  to  deliver  them  to  Thomas 
Kemble,  of  Charlestown,  who  was  to  sell  them,  and  with  the 
proceeds  to  take  freight  for  the  West  Indies."  (iV.  E.  H. 
and  O.  R.,  vol.  i.,  p.  377.)  "  By  order  of  the  '  State  of  Eng- 
land,' many  Irish  Presbyterian  people  were  also  sent  to 
New  England.  On  their  arrival  they  were  sold  by  those 
at  whose  expense  they  had  been  brought  over  to  any  of  the 
inhabitants  who  were  in  want  of  slaves  or  servants.  There 
arrived  in  1654  a  ship  called  tlu;  '  Goodfellow,"  Captain 
Geo.  Dell,  with  a  large  number  of  emigrants  of  the  above 
description,  two  of  whom  were  thus  sold."  (Froni  an  ori- 
ginal paper  of  the  time,  in  possession  of  Frederic  Kidder, 
Esq.) 

"May  10th,  1654,  I,  George  Dell,  master  of  the  ship 
called  '  Goodfellow,'  have  sold  to  Mr.  Sanmel  Symonds  two 
of  the  Irish  youthes  I  brought  over  by  order  of  '  the  State 
of  England ' — the  name  of  one  of  them  being  William  Dal- 
ton  and  of  the  other  Edward  Welch — for  the  sum  of  six 
and  twenty  pounds,  in  corn,  merchantable  or  live  cattle,  at 
or  before  the  end  of  Octol)er  next.  Geo.  Dell." 

(In  Salem  Court  File-'^,  p.  77  ;  vol.  viii.,  //.  and  G.  li.) 

"  It  is  probable-that  some,  or  many  of  these  Scotch  were 
sent  to  Barbadoes,  as  all  their  names  do  not  seem  to  app(\ir 
in  any  other  way  in  this  country  excei)ting  on  this  list." 

Governor  Hutchinson's  collection  of  original  papers  gives 
an  extract  of  a  letter  from  the  Rev.  John  Cotton  to  the 
Lord-General  Cromwell,  dated  at  Boston  in  New  England, 
28th  of  5th  month,  1651,  respecting  some  prisoners  of  the 
same  class  of  persons  included  in  the  above  list,  sent  over 
before  these  arrived.  "The  Scots,  whom  (Jod  delivered 
into  your  hands  at  Dunbar,  and  whereof  sundry  were  sent 
hither,  we  have  been  desirous  (as  we  could)  to  make  their 
yoke  easy.    Such  as  were  sick  with  scurvy  or  other  dis- 


INTRODUCTION. 


25 


eases,  have  not  wanted  pliysic  or  chyrurgcry.  They  have 
not  lieen  sold  for  slaves  to  perpetual  servitude,  but  lor  six, 
seven  or  eight  years,  as  we  do  our  own — and  he  that 
bought  the'most  of  them  (I  hear)  buildrth  houses  for 
them,  lor  ev(.ry  four  a  house,  and  layeth  some  acres  of 
ground  tlureto,  which  he  giveth  them  us  their  own, 
requiring  three  days  in  the  week  to  work  for  liim  by  turns 
and  four  days  for  themselves,  and  j)romiseth,  as  soon  as 
thev  can  re[)av  him  the  money  he  laid  out  on  them,  he 
will  set  them  at  liberty."     (//>.,  p.  38U.) 

As  these  Scotch  and  Irish  were  considered  "dissenters," 
their  religious  o])inions  could  not  be  tolerated  under  tho 
charters  of  any  of  the  New  England  colonies.* 

Consetjuentiy,  when  their  years  of  servitude  expired, 
thev  found  themselves  in  a  position  of  much  trial.  They 
were  expatriated  from  their  families,  from  the  places  of 
their  fathers'  sepulchres,  and  from  tlieir  chosen  form  of 
religious  worship. 

They  had  entlured  defeat,  oppression,  toil  and  poverty, 
and  now  when  "strangers  in  a  strange  land,"  they  still  set 
their  trust  upon  the  Lord,  and  endeavored  (according  to 
their  o])p()rtunity  )  to  do  good. 

Their  trials  taught  them  to  ''  know  the  heart  of  a 
stranger,"  nnd  their  charity  promjited  the  adoption  of 
a])i)ropriate  means  of  relief  on  behalf  of  those  wlio  might 
in  future  come  from  their  native  land  and  require  as- 
sistance. 

Consequently,  tliey  obtained  the  honor  of  establishing 
the  oldest  eleemosynary  society  in  America — "the  Scots' 
Charitable  Society  "  of  JJoston. 

Of  it,  the  llrst  nu'eting  was  held  on  Januar}'  Gth,  IGoT, 
when  the  following  preamble  was  adopted  and  signed  : 

"  We  whose  names  are  underwritten,  all  in  tho  most  part 
])resent,  did  agree  and  conclude  for  the  relief  of  ourselves, 
and  any  otlier  for  the  which  we  may  see  cause,  to  make  a 
box,  and  every  one  of  us  to  give  as  (iod  shall  move  our 


•ff 


*  Plynioutli  and  MnssacluisottH  colonies  contiiiiKMl  separate  iinlil  Oc- 
tober Till,  1(J!)1,  wlieii  tlu'v  were  united  bv  Kini;  William  and  (^neen 
jMarv  as  tlie  I'rovinee  of  Massachusetts  liay.  Conneetient  and  New 
]I;iven  colonies  were- st'parate  governinents  till  April  'JiM,  ]()t!2,  wiien 
KiiiLj  Charles  made  tiieiu  C'onnectit;ut  Colony  in  New  England.  (Hint. 
17-14,  p.  73.) 


^il 


26 


INTRODUCTION. 


II 


hearts,  whose  hlessinf?  and  direction  wi-  do  from  our  hearts 
desire  to  have  iVoni  liiiii  wiio  is  able  tod')  i'lmndantly  above 
all  that  we  are  able  to  ask  or  think,  both  in  the  be<,dnninj5 
and  inanaj^in}^  of  that  which  Ave  do  intend;  and  therefore 
that  we  may  express  our  intention  and  become  our  own  in- 
terpreters (jeavinji;  those  that  shall  come  after  us  to  do  l)et- 
ter  than  we  havt;  begun)  hojjing  that  by  the  assistance  of 
the  great  God,  who  can  bring  small  beginnings  to  greater 
perfection  than  we  for  the  present  can  thiidc  of,  or  exjjcct, 
and  likewise  we  h()[)(^  that  (!od,  wiio  hath  tlie  hearts  of  all 
men  in  his  hand,  and  can  turn  them  which  way  soever  ho 
pleaseth,  will  double  our  spirits  upon  tiiem  and  n)ake  them 
more  zealous  for  his  glory,  and  the  mutual  good  one  of  an- 
other, and  therefore  knowing  our  own  wi>akiu>ss  to  ex])ress 
ourselves  in  this  particular,  we  leave  ourselves  and  it  both 
to  God  and  to  the  word  of  his  grace,  and  do  desire  to  declare 
our  intentions  about  which  we  have  ajxreed. 

"  That  is  to  say,  that  we  whose  names  are  inserted  in  this 
book,  do  and  will,  by  God's  assistance,  give  as  (iod  will 
move  us  and  as  our  ability  will  bear  at  our  first  entering. 

"  1.  But  it  is  agreed  that  none  give  less  at  their  first  en- 
tering than  twelve  jjencc^  and  then  quarterly  to  pay  six 
pence. 

"  2.  And,  that  this  our  benevolence  is  for  the  relief  of 
ourselves,  being  Scottish  men,  or  for  any  of  the  Scottish 
nation  whom  we  may  see  cause  to  lielp  (not  excluding  the 
prudential  car^'  of  the  respective  prudential  townsmen 
whose  God  shall  cast  away  any  of  us  or  them)  but  rather 
as  an  addition  tliereunto. 

"  3.  And,  it  is  agreed  that  there  shall  nothing  be  taken  out 
of  the  box  for  the  first  seven  years  for  the  relief  of  any  (the 
box  being  yet  in  its  minority). 

"4.  And  it  is  agreed  that  there  shall  be  one  chosen  (one 
of  good  report,  fearing  God  and  hating  covetousness)  quar- 
terly to  receive  the  duties  of  said  box,  likewise  what  lega- 
cies may  be  left  unto  it. 

"5.  And  that  the  first  box-master  shall  give  up  all  the 
revenues  of  said  box  unto  the  next  one  that  is  chosen,  and 
so  continue  until  the  company  may  see  any  inconvenience 
in  it  or  cause  to  alter  it. 

"  6.  And  it  is  further  agreed,  that  our  children  shall  have 
the  same  privilege  with  ouraelves;  they  entering  (when 
they  are  grown  up)  orderly. 


INTRODUCTION. 


27 


Icga- 


"7.  And  it  is  further  agreed  that  those  who  doth  wilfully 
neglect  to  pay  their  duty,  and  have  entered  for  the  s])aco 
of  a  twelvemonth,  together,  shall  have  no  benefit  hereafter 
by  said  l)ox, 

"  The  names  of  those  who  first  began  to  enter  the  l)ox, 
sixth  of  January,  1657:  Rol)ert  Porteous,  first  chosen  l.ox- 
niaster;  William  Cosser,  Alexander  Simson,  George  Thomj)- 
son,  James  Moore,  Janus  (Jrant,  Thomas  Dewer,  William 
CJil)son,  Alexander  (Irant,  Andrew  Jameson,  William  IJal- 
lantyre,  William  Speed,  James  Inglisli,  John  Clark,  Peter 
(irant,  John  Knccland,  Thomas  Palsous,  A\'i]liam  Ander- 
son, James  M'ehster,  Thomas  Shearer,  John  McDonald, 
George  Trund)le,  Alexander  Boyle,  John  Hennet,  James 
Adams,  Malcolm  Maktallome,  John  Mason." 

I  present  this  long  instrument,  not  only  to  show  their 
manner  of  doing  good,  l)Ut  especially  that  the  reader  may 
discover  from  its  tone  and  sj)irit  what  manner  of  men  they 
were ;  men  "  fearing  God  and  hating  covetousness." 

By  an  ex})ression  in  their  preamble  to  "  rules  and  laws," 
adopted  in  1G84,  it  may  be  inferred  that  to  many  of  them 
their  wives  and  families  had  not  come,  and  that  others  had 
married  in  the  land. 

The  surname  of  three  or  more  of  these  expatriated  men 
exist  in  their  descendants  in  Boston  after  a  lapse  of  two 
centuries.  What  efforts  they  made  to  obtain  public  or  re- 
ligious worship  in  the  Presbyterian  form  and  a  ])astor,  if 
any,  we  know  not,  ])Ut  in  1(5()2  the  Rev.  James  Keith  can)e 
from  Ab(;rdeen  to  Boston,  and  it  is  reasonable  to  conclude 
that,  considering  the  ''  clannishness  of  the  Scotch,"  he  nmst 
liave  done  what  he  could  to  have  gathered  together  these 
"  dispersed  of  Israel  "  here,  who,  although  they  were  then 
slaves,  were  by  birth  his  countrymen. 

The  record  of  his  labors  previous  to  1664  ap])ears  to  be 
lost.  At  that  date  he  was  settled  as  pastor  at  West  Bridg- 
water, where  he  died  in  1719.     {Barb.,  p.  531.) 


il 


1 


il  the 
1,  and 
lience 


have 
kvheii 


'I      ! 


28 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIAMSM 


'It 


i       I 


CHAPTER  I. 

Huguenots,  1686 — First  Presbyterian  Cluirch — Their  Lot  in  1704 — 
Forbidden  to  build  for  eleven  years — 1716,  first  I'resbyterian  Meeting 
House  built  in  Boston — Prayers  in  P>ench — House  sold  in  1748 — 
LeMercier — Bought  by  enemies  of  Whitetield,  and  it  became  a  Muss 
House — French  Presbyterian  ism  extinct. 

No  ecclesiastical  orjxanization  being  permitted  to  the 
Scotch,  these  fletached  Presl)yterians  in  due  time  either  re- 
turned to  their  native  land,  went  to  other  provinces,  or  be- 
came absorbed  by  the  churches  of  the  colony.  "Absorbed." 
Thus,  of  the  one  hundred  souls  given  by  tiie  "  Privy  Coun- 
cil" to  the  Laird  of  Pitlochie,  who  sailed  with  them  in 
September,  1685,  from  Leith  road  for  New  Jersey,  and  of 
the  surviving  one  hundred  and  forty  |)ersons,  out  of  two 
hundred  others  (three  hundred  in  all),  wlio  in  the  same 
vessel  left  Scotland  voluntarily  to  escape  persecution — • 
when  pursued  by  Mr.  Johnston  (the  son-in-law  and  sur- 
vivor of  Pitlochie)  for  their  four  years'  service,  the  most 
part  came  to  New  England. 

In  Waterbury,  Connecticut,  the  Rev.  John  Eraser,  one 
of  these  exiles  (and  afterwards  minister  of  Alness,  in 
Scotland),  married  Mrs.  Jean  Motfat,  who  had  sufiered 
prosecution  in  the  same  manner  as  her  husband  did,  and 
for  whom,  her  father  had  j)aid  at  sundry  times  one  thou- 
sand merks  of  fine,  on  account  of  her  absenting  herself 
from  the  parish  church,  and  frequenting  field  meetings, 
prior  to  her  transportation.  They  continued  in  New  Eng- 
land until  they  heard  of  King  William's  accession  to  the 
throne.  Tlien  they  returned  to  Scotland."  (Acct.  of  Rev. 
Jax.  Frnse'r,  of  Pitcalzian.) 

Those  speaking  the  English  language  were  not  allowed 
to  introduce  Presbyterianism  into  either  of  the  New  Eng- 
land Colonies.  It,  however,  was  brought  in,  in  *'  an  un- 
known tongue." 


IN   NEW   ENGLAND. 


29 


''I 


>,  one 

5S,   in 

ffored 

|1,  and 

thou- 

rsolf 

tin^rs, 

En.ti;- 

()  the 

f  Rev. 

lowed 

En^r- 

|i  un- 


"About  the  middle  of  the  16th  century  Tsays  Mosheim) 
all  tlie  French  churches  without  exception,  entered  into 
the  honds  of  fraternal  communion  with  the  church  of 
Geneva,"  and  on  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  Oc- 
tober 24th,  1685,  nearly  a  million  of  tiiese  Preyl)yterians 
were  obliged  to  escape  from  their  native  land.  The  term 
Huguenot,  by  which  this  people  were  known,  has  puzzled 
etymologists,  but,  "on  November  11th,  1560,  the  Count  de 
Villars,  Lieutenant-General  in  Languedoc,  in  a  letter  to 
the  King  of  France,  calls  the  rioters,  Calvinists,  Hu- 
guenots, and  this  is  the  first  time  the  term  is  found 
in  the  Registers  of  that  province  applied  to  the  Protes- 
tants." {lb.) 

As  "  godliness  is  profitable  for  all  things,  having  prom- 
ise of  the  life  that  now  is,  as  well  as  of  that  which  is  to 
come,"  and  as  Calvinism  is  the  most  perfect  embodiment 
of  "  the  truth  which  is  according  to  godliness,"  so,  those 
who  consistently  profess  it,  are  always  "  diligent  in  busi- 
ness," maintaining  "  good  works  for  necessary  uses,"  and 
are  "not  a  whit  behind  tiie  chiefest  of  any  sect  in  subdu- 
ing the  earth,  obtaining  subsistence,  stimulating  commerce, 
promoting    convenience,  and   jiroducing   trafiiekers,  who 
'  are  among  the  honorable  of  the  earth.'"    Consequently, 
this  masterly  characteristic  stroke  of  policy  of  the  Jesuits 
and  of  "the  prince  of  this  world,"  drew  from  the  arteries 
of  the  nation,  a  large  portion  of  her  vitality.  *' During  the 
])ersecution  which  ensued  above  800,000  lied  from  France. 
England  gained  innnensely  by  this :  at  least  50,000  arti- 
sans souglit  refuge  in  London  and  introduced  the  manu- 
facture of  silk,  crystal  glasses,  jewelry  and  other  fine  works, 
many  of  them  before  unknown,  but  ever  since  successfully 
prosecuted  in  England."     (Andersoii's  Hist,  of  Commerce.) 
"  They  carried  with  them  a  vital  faith,  frugal  habits,  and 
the  knowledge  of  new  sources  of  useful  and  elegant  indus- 
tr3\     Their  ])osterity  are  living  witnesses  of  what  France 
lias  lost  by  the  atrocious  cruelties  with  which  she  forced 
them  from  her  soil."     While  most  of  those  who  fled  to 
America  went  to  the  colonies  which  now  form  the  South- 
ern and  Middle  States,  still,  not  a  few  of  them  came  to  New 
England. 

I  mention  first  those  who  came  to  Rhode  Island,  where, 
by  law  then,  it  was  supposed,  it  is  said,  every  Christian  sect 


4 


I 

i 


I 


80 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


iiiiilit 


f      III 


IB 


l! 


I 


excepting  Roman  Catholics,  should  enjoy  all  the  privilogeg 
of  freemen.  "On  Oct.  12th,  108(5,  an  agreement  was  made 
by  the  Rev.  P]zekiel  Carre  and  P.  l^>ert()n  -with  the  Narra- 
gansett  pro])rietors  for  a  place  called  Newberry  plantation, 
but,  this  being  too  far  from  the  sea,  (Rochester)  now 
Kingston,  was  selected  and  a  new  agreement  made  at  4s. 
])('r  acre,  payable  in  three  years  at  six  ])er  cent.  Each 
family  were  to  have  one  hundred  acres  if  they  desired  it, 
and  a  ])ro{)ortion  of  meadow.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Carre  was  to 
have  150  acres  gratis,  100  were  assigned  for  a  glebe  and 
fifty  acres  to  su))port  a  Protestant  schoolmaster. 

"Forty-five  families  commenced  the  settlement;  built  a 
church  and  twenty-five  dwelling-houses."  Of  the  dimen- 
sions t)f  their  church  and  its  appearanee,  we  have  no  re- 
cord, but,  as  their  soil  Avas  lawfully  o])tained,  probably 
they  were  not  unduly  hindered  in  building  it  on  their  own 
land  by  their  surrounding  religionists. 

As  Presbyterians,  after  tlreir  distress  as  fugitives  from 
persecution  was  relieved,  they  fovmd  no  sympathy  on  New 
England  earth,  and  even  as  early  as  "1687,  the  Atherton 
company  petitioned  for  the  Refugees'  land  to  be  sold  to 
them."  If  not  "the  filth  of  the  earth,"  they  appeared  to 
be  in  the  colony  as  "  the  ofiscouring  of  all  things." 

In  1689  (England  being  at  war  with  France)  a  French 
fleet  appeared  off  the  coast,  and  for  fear  they  should 
aid  their  countrymen  in  their  native  land,  to  whom  they 
had  been  so  drrpli/  ivdchlcd  in  1685,  for  banishment,  and 
slaughter  and  loss,  the  refugees  were  required  to  present 
themselves  to  John  (Jreen,  Esq.,  at  Warwick,  and  take  the 
oath  of  allegiance  to  the  British  crown.  In  consideration 
of  which,  they  were  to  remain  undisturbed,  behaving 
peaceably."     (Arnold. ) 

"They  prospered  for  some  years  until  they  were  dis- 
persed by  the  lawless  conduct  of  their  neighbors."  (76.) 
Contests  for  jurisdiction  among  the  plantations  made 
their  surroundings  disagreeable,  and  while  they  were  for 
peace,  they  had  to  abandon  in  a  few  years  their  wilderness 
homes  on  account  of  the  distress  to  which  they  were  sub- 
jected. 

By  or  before  Sept.,  1699,  all  the  forty-five  families  but 
about  two  had  left  for  New  York  or  elsewhere,  excepting  a 
few  who  had  removed  previously  to  BosliOn.    "  In  1705 


I 
1 


m 


IN    NEW    ENGLAND. 


31 


dis- 
(Ih.) 
;iuidc 
for 
rncss 
sub- 
but 
iing  a 
1705 


(Aup;ust  20th)  Dr.  Pierre  Ayrault  represented  the  outrage 
oil  the  FreiK'h  setthn's  coniinittcd  tsomc  years  before,  to 
(lov.  Dudley  in  a  retnonstranee  with  great  minuteness." 
"  It  was  the  most  iiagrant  case  that  could  be  brought 
aL^ainst  the  p(!0})le,"  but  it  was  considered  to  be,  "one  of 
those  acts  of  l)order  violence  with  which  the  histories  of 
all  new  countries  abound,  for  which  the  government  could 
not  b(;  held  fairly  responsible."     {Am.,  vol  ii.,  ]>.  21. ) 

"'  In  J>r.  S.  P.  b..  New  England,  vol.  xiii.,  is  a  ])lot  of  the 
French  town,  containing  the  names  of  all  the  families  on 
their  separate  lots."     {Jh.) 

While  their  ])lantation  was  being  abandoned  by  border 
violence  and  distress  occasioned  by  factions  contending 
for  jurisdiction;  of  them,  individuals  emigrated  to  New- 
port, and  when  an  effort  was  made  to  establish  an  Episco- 
pal church  in  Rhode  Island,  the  petition  asking  aid  from 
the  home  government  (through  the  Earl  of  Pellemonte)  was 
signed  by  sixteen  ]jersons,  headed  by  two  of  the  Hugue- 
nots, Gabriel  Jiernon  and  Pierre  Ayrould.  Though  they 
were  Presbyterians,  they  became  Prelatists  for  the  means 
of  grace.  They  a])pcar  then  {8e])t.  2Gth,  1699)  to  Imvo 
been  the  only  individuals  of  the  race  remaining  in  the 
colony.  With  what  results  Ayrault  represented  the  md- 
rage  on  the  French  settlers  to  the  Governor  we  have  seen. 
For  them,  as  Presbyterian  settlers,  the  Gongregationalist 
sects,  of  Anabaptists  and  Quakers,  as  well  as  the  others, 
had  no  sympathy — and  the  fruits  of  their  labors,  for  some 
thirteen  years,  in  "subduing  the  earth,"'  were  abandoned  to 
their  oj)pressors.  Their  habitations,  hund)le  in  structure, 
which  had  been  dwellings  of  the  righteous,  in  which 
had  bqen  daily  heard  the  voice  of  joy  expressrd  in  the 
melody  of  thanksgiving,  were  now  left  desolate,  and  their 
"  little  sanctuarv,"  which  had  on  Sabbaths  echoed  en  rime 
Francoise,  "  the  word  of  Christ  in  the  book  of  Psalms," 
became  now  to  them  of  less  value  than  "a  lodge  in  a  gar- 
den of  cucumbers." 

The  oidy  further  vestiges  of  their  connection  witli  the 
soil  of  Rhode  Island  is  thus  stated  by  Arnold  (vol.  ii.,  p. 
55).  About  "June  13th,  1715,  the  Yemassee  war  desola- 
ting South  Carolina  caused  many  of  the  j>lanters  to  remove. 
Several  females,  whose  names  indicate  their  Huguenot 
origin,  lied  to  Rhode  Island,  bringing  with  them  a  few 


m 


II 


I 


::ll 


32 


III.STOIIY   OF    PUKSBYTKUIANISM 


Indian  slaves.  These  ladies  petitioned  the  assembly  for 
relief  from  the  import  duty  upon  their  slaves,  wliich  was 
granted."  So  far,  for  Rhode  Island  ;  we  now  turn  to 
Massachusetts. 

As  this  edict  was  not  revoked  till  October  24th,  "  few  or 
none  of  those  against  whom  it  was  directed  (says  S.  Drake) 
arrived  in  Boston  until  the  following  year.  Contributions 
on  their  behalf  were  made  in  Salem  in  September,  1()SG." 

With  those  who  came  to  this  colony  were  Mr.  Daniel 
Bondette,  Mr.  Laurie  and  Pierre  Daille.  ministers. 

Among  the  first  thirty  families  who  arrived  in  IJoston  in 
1()86,  was  Mr.  Daniel  Johonnette,  with  liis  uncle,  Mr. 
Andrew  Sigourney,  from  Roclielle,  said  to  have  b(  ( n 
with  Admiral  Coligny.  Of  those  who  arrived  in  KiS? 
was  Mr.  Baudouin,  progenitor  of  the  Bowdoin  family. 
lie  fled  from  France  to  Ireland,  thence  he  removed  to 
Maine,  and  thence  to  Boston.  At  this  date  there  a})])ear 
to  have  arrived  too  many  persons  of  this  class  for  conve- 
nient location  in  Boston,  and  to  improve  their  condition, 
not  a  few  of  them  removed  to  the  towns  of  Oxford  and 
])ouglass,  Mass.  There,  their  minister,  was  the  Rev.  Daniel 
Bondette. 

In  tlieir  settlements  neither  the  native  forest,  the  sterility 
of  the  soil,  nor  the  ungenial  climate  compared  favorably 
with  their  native  land,  and  they  must  have  lieen  exten- 
sively ignorant  of  the  manner  in  which,  and  reluctant  to 
spend  the  labor  by  which,  the  earth  must  be  met  and  en- 
couraged to  yield  her  strength  for  their  comfortable  sub- 
sistence. Still  they  toiled  on  under  many  ])rivations  until 
August  25th,  1G96,  when,  by  an  incursion  of  Indians,  not  a 
few  of  them  were  killed,  their  homes  destroyed  and  their 
settlements  broken  up.  The  survivors  removed  to  Boston, 
and  afterwards  aided  their  brethren  in  the  erection  and 
support  of  the  French  church  in  that  town.     (Barh.) 

There,  maintaining  their  Presbyterian  forms  of  church 
government,  worship  and  discipline  in  a  language  not 
generally  understood  by  the  Puritans,  who  had,  in  sympa- 
thy for  them  as  exiles  from  Papal  fury,  allowed  them  to 
occupy,  as  a  place  of  worship,  one  of  the  two  school-houses 
in  the  town,  not  silenced  by  civil  law — and  increased  by 
the  remnant  who  fled  for  life  a  second  time  from  similar 
instruments  of  desolation  and  death,  the  Huguenots  here 
for  a  season  prospered. 


I 


IN    NEW   ENGLAND. 


83 


erility 
3rably 
exteii' 
ant  to 
d  en- 
sub- 
until 
not  a 
tlu'ir 
oston, 
antl 


Althoii,2;h  their  existence  was  in  so  far  viewed  as  an  in- 
trusion on  "  the  church  of  the  i)arish  "  in  the  school-house 
on  School  street,  one;  or  more  ot'  tlieir  ministers  })reached 
fur  many  years  rctiularly  to  them,  and  they  were  organized 
into  a.  Presbyterian  church  l»y  the 'election,  ordination  and 
installation  ofruliuLT  elders  and  the  settlement  of  a  ])astor. 

What  became  of  the  llev.  Messrs.  J3ondette  and  Laurie 
is  not  ascertained,  find  whether  the  Rev.  Pierre  Daille  was 
tjieir  first  minister  does  not  ai»i)ear,  as  the  first  notice  of 
him  as  the  ])astor  of  the  French  church  in  Boston  is  found 
in  l()'-)(j.  lie  was  at  this  date  tlie  twentieth  minister  settled 
in  that  town. 

it  is  probable  that  he  had  then  officiated  there  for  sev- 
eral years,  and  he  continued  in  oflice  until  his  death.  He 
luul  been  thrice  married,  and  was  represented  {Bost.  Notion, 
p.  101)  as  "pious,  charitable,  courteous  and  correct  in 
life." 

As  a  fjlance  at  the  customs  of  "  the  times  "  then,  and  a 
little  more  extensive  acquaintance  with  the  man,  I  detail 
an  account  of  his  will  and  burial.  In  his  will  Mr.  Daille 
l)rohibited  the  use  of  wine  at  his  funeral  and  directed  that 
srloves  should  be  given  only  to  his  wife's  relatives.  To  the 
ministers  of  the  town  and  to  Mr.  Walter,  of  Roxbury,  he 
gave  gloves  and  scarves.  His  French  and  Latin  books  he 
gave  to  form  a  library  for  the;  church  ;  for  the  benefit  of  the 
minister  the  interest  of  CKK),  and  £10  to  be  put  at  interest 
till  a  meeting-house  should  b(!  erected,  "if  one  ever  should 
be  built,"  and  then  that  sura  was  to  go  towards  its  erection. 
To  old  man  .Fohn  Rawlings,  the  French  school-master,  £o; 
to  loving  wife,  Martha  Daille,  ,i!'2o(),  my  negro  man,  Kifiy, 
and  also  all  my  })late,  clothes,  furniture,  etc.,  etc.  The  res- 
idue of  estate  to  "  loving  brother  Paul  Daille,  Vaugelade, 
in  Amsfort,  in  Holland."  "Good  friend  Mr.  James  Bow- 
doin,  executor." 

It  was  dated  2()th  April,  ITlo,  and  proved  on  May  31st, 
the  same  year.  Mr.  Daille  was  interred  near  the  centre  of 
the  Granary  Burying  Ground,  opposite  to  Horticultural 
Hall,  Boston,  and  upon  the  headstone  of  his  grave  (which, 
D.  v.),  we  will  have  to  notice  one  hundred  and  forty-five 
years  afterward  (in  June,  18G0),  is  this  inscription:  "  Here 
lies  ye  body  of  ye  Rev.  Mr.  Peter  Daille,  minister  of  the 
French  church  in  Boston.  Died  the  21st  of  May,  1715,  in 
3 


m 


:  ■    Ml 


n 


"■fll 


ft 


i 


34 


HISTORY   OF   rUKSBYTEUIANISM 


the  C7th  ypur  of  his  ajie."  Near  him  is  tlio  prnvo  of  a  for- 
mer wife,  "Seyrc  Dtiille,  wife  of  tht!  Rev.  IVter  Daille,  ajred 
about  GU."  She  died  August  .'iUtli,  1712.  His  first  wife, 
Kstlier  Latonice,  died  14tli  December,  IGUG.  (I)r((k(', 
p.  48S.) 

Notwithstanding  that  the  application  made  by  '"  Mr. 
Toutonn  for  himself  and  other  e.\i)elled  Iluj^uenots  to  tiie 
General  Court  to  inhabit  here  was  granted,"  and  that  tliey 
were  by  courtesy  allowed  to  worship  in  a  town  school- 
liouse,  still  "the  iron  entered  into  their  souls;"  they  had 
not  then,  as  Presbyterians,  liberty  of  conscience. 

Hoi)ing  to  obtain  a  })ermanent  settlement,  they,  on 
Januii.rv  4th,  1704,*  purchased  a  lot  from  one  of  their  own 
people  for  a  church  site.  The  transfer  of  which,  as  stated 
on  Sullblk  Records,  Fol.  22,  pj).  102-3,  reads  thus:  "From 
James  Meures,  of  Boston,  hatter,  for  £110,  current  silver 
money  of  New  England,  to  John  Tartarien,  Francis  lircdon 
and  Jean  Dei)uis,  elders  of  the  Frinich  church,  and  to  their 
successors  and  assigns  in  the  same  oflice  forever — in  the 
behalf  of  themselves  and  the  rest  of  the  congregation  of  the 
French  church  aforesaid,  the  lot  northerly  on  Schoolhouse 
Lane  43 2  feet,  easterly  30  feet,  westerly  3SJ  feet,  and  south- 
erly 35 J  feet,  on  the  lands  of  Sarah  Robbins,  to  build  a 
meeting-house  on  for  the  worship  and  service  of  Almighty 
God,  according  to  the  way  and  manner  of  the  Ileformed 
Churches  of  France." 

Owing  to  the  individuality  of  Roger  Williams,  IMassa- 
chusetts  was  then  and  is  now  far  astern  of  Rhode  Island  in 
liberty  of  conscience. 

While  no  English-speaking  people  were  then  allowed  to 
sell  to  them  land  on  which  to  build  a  Presbyterian  church, 
they  manifested  their  submission  to  the  laws  and  petitioned 
the  select  men  of  the  town  for  liberty  to  erect  a  meeting- 
house (thirty-five  by  thirty  feet)  of  wood  upon  their  lot. 
But  this  prayer  was  refused  to  them  on  the  plea  that  "  the 
new  school-house  would  well  accommodate  them,  as  the 


*  In  this  year,  1704,  the  first  paper,  railed  the  Nfwa  Letter,  was  pub- 
lished in  Boston  by  John  Campbell.  The  name  indicates  him  to  have 
been  a  Scotchman,  and  by  implication  a  Presbyterian,  and  if  so,  our 
modern  New  England  enterprise  was  then  dormant,  and  beaten  by  the 
tartan. 


IN   NEW   ENGLAND. 


35 


iliont'd 

;ir  lot. 

at  "  the 

as  the 


ivas  pub- 

to  have 

f  KO,  our 

n  by  tlie 


old  one  had  done  for  some  years  past,"  and  that  it  would 
accommodate  tor  the  time  to  coiue  "a  far  ^M'eater  nuuibcr 
of  persons  than  hclon'jcd  to  their  contrretiation." 

"  Fivt'doni  to  worship  (lod  "  like  tiiose  movinji;  mys- 
teries, the  meridian  of  "no  variation,"  and  "the  star 
of  empire"  havin;«;,  aI)ove  eighty  ye.n's  suice,  taken  its  way 
westwanl,  was  sui)posed  to  Imve  crossed  the  Atlantic  and 
to  have  perched  on  I'lyniouth  Rock,  yet  it  had  not  at  this 
(hite  arrived  so  far  west  as  iioston.  The  facts  that  they 
wen^  njfui^ees,  and  that  they  conduct(Ml  their  religious  wor- 
siiip  in  an  unknown  ton,;^ne,  ])rotecte(l  them  from  seourtx- 
in^  and  eroppinjr,  yet  it  took  twelve  years  (after  they  had 
l)urchased  and  paid  for  their  lot)  of  humhie  supplication 
to  allow  them  to  erect  a  Preshyterian  church  on  the  soil  of 
Massachusetts. 

By  their  "  continued  coming  "  they  in  so  far  wearied  the 
select  men  and  innovated  on  the  estahlished  reli^^ion  as  to 
obtain  lihcn'ty,  civil  and  reliLdous,  to  carry  out  their  ])ray- 
(>rs  nnd  pur})oses,  and  about  a.  d.  1710  'a  brick  church 
thirty-live  by  thirty  feet,  was  erected.  From  and  after 
tliat  year  Presbyterianism  had  at  least  one  roof,  under 
which  it  found  '' ;i  ])lac(^  of  habitation  for  the  mighty  God 
of  Jacob"  in  tiie  province. 

Being  in  "fraternal  communion  with  the  church  in 
Geneva,"  their  Articles  of  Faith,  forty  in  number,  have  the 
clear  Calvinistic  ring.  Among  them  there  is  no  "'(/'"  sal- 
vation. 

A  "  form  of  sound  words,"  which  could,  under  Divine 
grace,  educate,  strengthen  and  sustain  these  "  sons  and 
daughters  of  the  Lord  Almighty  "  to  suffer  wiiat  supersti- 
tion, bigotry  and  fanaticism  had  intlicted  upon  their  fore- 
fathers under  Charles  the  Ninth  of  P^rance,  or  to  endure 
the  atrocious  scenes  of  horror,  cruelty  and  devastation 
which  they  had  witnessed  among  their  native  homes,  and 
which  had  inspired  them  witii  an  endurance  which  made 
themselves  also  under  the  fiendish  cruelty  of  the  priest- 
hood during  the  reign  of  Louis  the  Fourteenth  a  spectacle 
to  God,  angels  and  to  men,  such  a  creed  ought  to  be  ])er- 
petuated  in  time,  as  it  will  be  "  in  spirit  and  in  truth  "  in 
eternity,  and  I  here  present  it  to  the  reader  as  an  appendix, 
translated  by  my  daughter,  the  late  Mrs.  Joseph  Stone. — 
Appendix  B. 


'   H 


A: 


1  ..i- 

i 

*  'a.   ;1 
!  c5   I 


86 


HISTORY   OF    rHKsnYTEIUAMSM 


^     I 


:i  I 


Their  riilocliisms,  otlior  minor  "  forms  of  sound  words" 
nnd  directory  for  worship  iire  all  wi'ilten  on  the  same  key- 
note, while  the  JhioL  of  Ps<ihn)<  exclusively,  "  Mis  en  rimo 
J''rancoiso,  par  Clement  Marot  et  Theodore  do  JJezo,"  set 
with  musical  notes  to  every  line,  I'ornied  ti)C  matter  of 
their  )»raise  in  the  worship  of  (lod. 

Thus,  takiufi;  to  themselves  '•  the  sword  of  the  Spirit" 
and  the  whoh;  "armor  of  righteousness  on  the  rij^ht  hand 
and  on  the  left,"  they  passed  throu;:h  the  fuinace  of  per- 
secution like  <4old  ol'the  seventh  relininj;.  Althou^di  they 
were  "scattered  anion^  the  eountiies,"' they  now,  like  their 
brethren  formerly  in  Rhode  Island,  even  in  Massachusetts 
found  "a  little  sanctuary." 

This  "their  i»ious,  charitable  and  courteous"  Daille  was 
not  i)ermitted  to  see,  but  in  171'.)  he  was  succeeded  by  the 
Kov.  Andrew  LeMercier,  a  graduate  of  (leneva,  who  was 
the  thirty-seventh  minister  settled  in  IJoston.  His  eccle- 
siastical connection  will  be  subsequently  stated. 

lie  continued  for  many  y(>ars  pastor  over  them  until, 
owinf;  to  the  death  of  the  ajred  and  the  assimilation  of  the 
young  to  those  by  whom  they  were  surromuled,  the 
French  language  was  no  longer  by  tliem  cxclusivt.'ly  spoken. 

From  these  causes  the  society  became  too  much  dimin- 
ished lor  self-support ;  the  church  was  broken  up,  and  on 
May  7th,  174<S,  the  house  was  sold  for  £3,()()0  "old  tenor." 

The  sale  was  made  by  Stei)hen  Botineau,  the  only  sur- 
viving elder,  the  Rev.  Andrew  LeMercier,  minister,  by 
Johonnots,  Arnault,  John  Brown,  James  Packenctt,  ^Vm. 
Bowdoin,  and  Andrew  Sigourney,  ])roprietors  of  said 
church,  to  the  trustees  of  the  Rev.  Andrew  Croswell's  new 
Congregational  society,  "  for  the  sole  use  of  a  Protestant 
church  forever."  Said  proprietors  only  conveyed  "their 
right  and  interest  in  it."  The  house  stood  on  lots  No.  18, 
20,  and  22,  now  in  1881,  on  School  street. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  LeMercier,  while  pastor  in  Boston,  in 
1732  wrote  and  i)ul)lished  a  history  of  his  native  city,  Ge- 
neva, presenting  it  under  its  three  forms  of  religion.  Pagan, 
Papal,  and  Protestant;  a  copy  of  which  is  preserved  in 
the  library  of  the  ^lassachusetts  Historical  Society,  and  a 

synopsis  of  which  will  be  found  in  appendix  C. He, 

as  lately  as  a.  d.  1753,  styled  himself  "  pastor  of  the  French 
church."  He  was  "  a  gentleman  of  great  benevolence  and 
highly  respected." 


4 


IX    NEW    ENGLAND. 


87 


In  viow  of  tho  (listropsinf;  slunwrorks  wliioli  liapprncd 
on  the  "  Island  SaMrs,"  ho  in  17'").S  petitioned  the  Ciov- 
ernor  and  Council  of  Nova  Scotia  "  for  tho  in'oporty  "  of 
that  island,  that  lie  niiuht  stock  it  with  such  domestic 
animals  as  would  ho  useful  in  |>r('sorving  alivo  any  mari- 
ners who  mifzht  esca))o  from  wrecks. 

His  ])otition  was  granted,  and  through  liis  rfibrts  and 
])ersevoranco,  tin;  lives  of  many  were  saved.  Yet  evil- 
disposed  lishormen  stole  his  cattle  and  his  goods;  and  iu 
17-14  he  oflorod  through  the  Boston  newspapers  a  reward 
of  £-U\  for  the  discovery  of  the  depredators.  ]lo  contin- 
ued in  full  occlesiasticMl  standing  with  his  Presbytery  un- 
til his  death,  which  occurred  aliout  theend  of  Marcli,  A.  D. 
17()4,  at  Dorchester,  in  the  72d  year  of  his  age. 

Thus  ended  the  second  introduction  of  I'reshytcrianisni 
into  New  Kngland,  and  .although  with  its  extinction  tho 
decay  and  change  of  their  language^  had  much  to  do,  yet, 
why,  it  was  not  more  permanently  engrafted  ui)on  that, 
which  was  for  some  years  co-existont  with  it,  and  whicli 
immetliately  .'uiccccded  it — in  other  words,  why  thoy  did 
not  ])erscvcringly  retain  and  maintain  their  Pr  'shyteriau 
principles,  sealed  hy  the  blood  of  a  martyred  ancestr\ — 
does  not  quite  fully  ai)pear.  To  Boston  and  the  whole 
region,  they  were  materially,  morally,  and  spiritually  an 
accjuisition — not  "an  increase  of  sinful  men."  Yet,  by 
the  overshadowing  influences  of  the  Colonial  religion, 
these  Presbyterians  liad  not  "freedom  to  worship  God," 
by  holding  and  enjoying  their  church  estate,  and  even 
when  Mr.  Croswell  was  to  have  been  installed,  on  October 
5th,  A.  I).  174<S,  as  a  Congregationalist,  in  their  house 
which  liis  peoi)le  had  bouglit,  his  settlement  was  delayed 
one  day,  by  a  sort  of  "remonstrative  injunction  from  the 
Old  South  Society,"  as  "  the  church  of  the  parish."  So 
rigid  and  exacting  was  the  ecclesiastical  law  of  their  quasi 
theocracy. 

The  fate  of  this  church,  as  well  as  of  the  one  in  Kings- 
ton, R.  I.,  was  astonishing.  It  was  bought  by  certain  oppo- 
nents of  the  Kev.  Geo.  Whitefield,  that  they  might  have  a 
puli)it  open  to  o])i)ose  him,  as  it  would  seem  that  most 
of  the  then  existing  churches  of  Boston  ap})rovcd  of  his 
course.  After  the  cleath  of  Mr.  Croswell  in  a.  d.  1785,  the 
house,  strange  to  tell,  as  it  was  not  needed  by  Baptists, 


It 


1 1' 


1  V 


'.  '■  I 


.1  ;ii 


W        -tTT 


88 


HISTORY   OF   PRERBYTERTANISM 


■i| 


nor  Episcopalians,  wlio  were  supplied,  nor  by  either  ^SFetho- 
dists,  Universalisls,  nor  Unitarians,  who  had  not  yet  been 
fully  d(>vel()ped  in  Boston,  was  sold  in  violation  of  the 
deeds  both  of  ITC-i  and  174S,  by  Trinitarian  ('oniiregation- 
nlists  to  the  Roman  Catholics.  The  mass,  which  was  made 
it  is  said  for  the  tirst  time  in  Boston,  on  (ir(>en  street,  and 
afterwards  on  Nov.  2d,  17SS,  on  l)()ar<l  of  a  French  ship  in 
the  harbor,  had  now  a  domicile  on  the  soil  of  Massachu- 
setts;  and  was  planted  by  an  ecclesiastical  successor  and 
probaoly  a  lineal  descendant  of  those  bloody  men,  who 
had  murdered  the  ancestry  of  these  irutruenots  in  their 
native  land,  a  ])riest  from  France,  "the  Abbe  la  Poitre." 

Tlunr  Presbyterian  proi)erty,  thus,  throu<;h  Con^reija- 
tionalism,  })assed  to  the  use  of  Po])ery,  in  less  than  ninety 
years,  and  their  case  stands  probably  without  a  jiarallcl  on 
the  i>age  of  history. 

Of  them,  we  see  nothino;  left.  Their  limited  ])rivile<res 
in  New  Eiitjland,  their  trials,  the  absorbing  of  their  dis- 
tinctive ])rincii»les  by  the  "social  comj)act''as  a  govern- 
ment religion,  left  nothing  to  mark  their  existence  on  the 
sands  of  time  in  the  land  of  their  adoption,  but  the 
deeds  which,  twice  violated,  swell  the  record.';  of  Suflblk 
county  registry  ;  their  church  site,  now  dedicated  to  iNhun- 
mon,  and  those  acts  of  beneficenc(\  which  sprang  from 
their  Calvinistic  principles  and  which  will  be  conveyed  to 
posterity  by  such  erections  and  objects,  in  aid  of  civil  lib- 
erty and  the  di (fusion  of  knowledge  among  men,  as  Fan- 
ueil  Hall  and  Bowdoin  college. 

Well  and  truthfully  is  it  said  by  S.  G.  Drake,  Esq. : 
"Few  of  those  who  established  the  French  church  in  Bos- 
ton could  have  thought  that  a  branch  of  that  })ower,  from 
which  they  had  lied  their  native  land  ui)on  the  })ain  of 
death,  would  so  soon  flourish  on  a  spot,  which  they  had 
chosen  for  a  place  of  refuge." 

How  strange,  that  these  children  of  ]ierSv''cution,  after 
having  escaped  ibr  their  lives  to  New  England,  should 
have  had  to  plead  year  bv  vear,  for  twelve  vears,  under 
the  JBritish  crown,  for  liberty  to  erect  on  the  soil  which 
they  had  lawfully  ])urchased  a  house  of  prayer! 

How  astonishing  the  fact,  that  the  refusal  was  made  by 
those  whose  ecclesiastical  ))redecessors  one  century  and 
one-third  before,  had  braved  the  horrors  of  a  waste,  howl- 
ing wilderness  for  "freedom  to  worship  God." 


IN    NEW    ENGLAND. 


89 


il  lib- 
Inin- 


Tlicy  did  not  say — you  are  "  lewd  fellows  of  the  baser 
Bort,"  but,  being  of  the  Presbyterian  persuasion,  this  was 
"tlie  front  of  their  oflending." 

Auain.  how  passing  strange,  that  in  less  than  forty  years, 
tlu'ir '"little  sanctuary '' should,  through  the  workings  of 
Congregationalism,  b(>conie  a  foothold  for  their  blood- 
thirsty i)ersecutors;  and  the  first  s))ot  on  whieh  Papal  su- 
])erstition  should  i)ennanently  adorn  the  soil  of  Massachu- 
setts with  a  mass  house!  The  French  Presbyterian 
church  in  New  England  as  an  instrumentality  had  fulfilled 
its  mission,  and  the  Master  was  now  by,  or  before  1753, 
pleased  to  lay  it  away  until  the  day  of  final  leckoning. 


Esq. : 
Bos- 
froni 

I  in  of 
had 


I 


T 


40 


HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


ill 


CHAPTER  II. 

1718-1743 — Scotch  Irish — Loft  Home  for  Consclcnrc  Sake — Puritans — 
Siege  of  Londonderry— Dissenters — An  o|)en  IJihle — I'aldacliins — • 
Grievances  set  fortli — (.Vaij^iiead — Fiveship-ioads  in  1718— Me(ire<.'or 
and  otliers — An  address  to  tJovernor  Sliute — I'otatoe: — Caseo  l>ay — 
Jsuttield — First  Sortiion  in  Londonderry — lulioes — First  Pa-^tor — ■ 
Kzekiel  xxxvii.  2G — Four  Schools —Worcester — Meetinii-llonso 
liewed  down — Kev.  Wni.  Joluisoii — Tax — Presliyterian  Property 
Destroyed — Say  brook  Platlornl — A  l're>l)ytery — I'drpoodiic — A  ease 
referred  to  the  Synod  in  Ireland  —  I'.liler's  Admission  of— Palmer — • 
Duniraer's  Indian  War — lioston — Mtjoreiieail — J  lis  People  Poor — ■ 
A  Vigorous  Tradition — John  Little — Ciuirch  ()r;;anized — Barn — 
Five  Eiders — Miss  i*arsons — A  Tru.-t — A  Barn  Converted — "Two 
Wings"— A  Pew— "Sinidry  Disputes  "—An  Award— A  Deed— A 
Compact — A  Second  Church  Built — Little's  Will — The  Londonderry 
Emigration  1718— James  Doake — Aid  to  Clarke  in  ransoming  liis 
son  from  the  Indians — A  C(jllection  also  for  Wni.  M.,  who  lost  two 
cows  by  a  tree — Tiieir  Code  of  Morals — Dea'ii  of  Plev.  Jan)es  Mc- 
Gregor— How  he  went  toCiiurch — Zach  Walker — Three  Sermons  and 
two  Indians  on  one  Sabl)ath — Rev.  M.  Clarke,  a  Vegetarian  and  a 
"DerryBoy" — Pastor's  Salary  in  Derry  £110,  <  Jovernor  of  Colony 
then  £100— Rev.  Thos.Tlionii>son,  Installation  and  Death— "Tokens'' 
—Tables— West  Parish— Rev.  D.  McGregor— Rev.  W.  Davidson— 
A  Strife — "Tenents" — Tlie  .\ wakening — Residts  in  Londonderry — 
Enthusiasm  —  Settlement^  —  Assimilated  —  Colonies —  Parish  Tax — 
Hireling — Presbyterian  Ministers — Voluntown — Rev.  S.  Dorrance — 
Kev.  Jas.  Hillhouse,  he  split  the  Presbytery — Rev.  J.  Ilarvey  sus- 
pended, Mooreiiead  rebuked — Rev.  D.  Mctjrregor's  Ordination — A 
Sorrowful  Spectacle — Rev.  R.  Rutherford — Temple's  Colony — A 
Town  Sued  —  Colonies  —  Colonel  Dunbar's  Colony  —  Waldo — The 
"Grand  Design" — A  Quarrel  for  two  years — Rev.  W.  McClenahan — 
Porpooduc — Early  decay  of  Presbyterianism  near  Casco  Bay — "The 
Oppressed  Irish  Brethren" — Xo  Svnod — Johnston  and  Worcester — ■ 
"The  Old  (Jarrison  House"- A  Prolilem  Solved— Distinct  Species- 
Chester — Two  Presbyterians  who  would  not  pay  the  Congrejrational 
Tax,  imprisoned — Rev.  John  Wilson — The  New  Fnglaiid  Primer — 
Worsliip — Rouse — Ainsworth — Bay  State  Version — The  lirst  i'rinting 
Press — Tiie  Imitations— Matter  of  Praise,  an  Iniiex — A  (piaint  title 
page — Mental  luhlability — Edwards  had  lo.st  ''conceit" — Radical 
Landmarka. 


I 


I 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


41 


)iis  niul 
ami  a 
Colony 
okens'' 
son — 
irrv — 
Tiix— 
rancL' — 
:vy  sus- 
iii — A 
)iiv — A 
,-The 
(hail — 
I—"  The 
t'stor — • 
lecies — 
,ratiuii:il 

illUT— 

'liiitiiig 
lit  title 
Kudicul 


We  must  now  revert  to  that  division  of  Presbyterianism 
"wiiicli  was  coexistent  with  the  French  Church  for  some 
vears,  and  which  iniino(Uately  succeeded  it "  in  New  Eng- 
land. Tliis  was  introduced  by  the  Scotch  Irish  in  a.  d. 
17  b-}. 

IJeforc  enterino;  more  fully  on  their  arrival  and  its  con- 
scciuences,  ""  it  may  Ije  useful  to  advert  brieily  to  some  of 
the  circumstances  and  occurrences  in  tiieir  native  land, 
which  constituted  the  great  and  leading  cause  of  most  of 
their  New  England  settlements."  In  doing  this,  1  shall 
extensively  jiresent  the  statements  of  the  late  llcv.  Edward 
L.  Parker,' in  his  history  of  the  town  of  Lonflonderry,  iu 
New  llamjishire — a  work  of  great  interest,  connecting  with 
these  extracts  illustrative  matter  drawn  from  collateral 
sources. 

"  It  will  clearly  appear,  that  it  was  religious  principle 
which  brought  our  fathers  to  this  land ;  that  it  was  for 
conscience  sake  they  left  their  country  and  their  homes, 
and  'souglit  a  faitii's  pure  shrine'  upon  our  bleak  and 
unhospitable  siiores."' 

As  we  have  seen,  although  at  the  Reformation  Protes- 
tantism IxK'ame  the-^^stablished  religion  in  England,  yet  it 
was  not  fully  ch)thed  in  the  simplicity  and  jiurity  of  the 
g()sj)el,  whili;  it  was  by  law  enforced  with  sucii  rigor  that 
many,  rather  than  endure  it  and  conform,  preferred  self- 
banishment  and  voluntary  exile.  The  fires  of  Smithfield, 
which  liad  raged  violently  during  the  days  of  "bloody 
Alary,"'  had,  it  is  true,  been  <]uenched  b}'  the  accession  of 
Elizabetii,  ''but  toleration  (it  has  been  justly  remarked) 
was  a  virtue  beyond  her  conception  and  beyond  her  age. 
She  left  no  example  of  it  to  her  successor.  James  the  First, 
and  it  was  not  to  be  expect(Ml  tiiat  a  sentiment  so  wise  or 
so  liberal  could  have  originated  with  him."  During  their 
reigns  acts  were  passed  requiring,  under  certain  ])enalties, 
(hat  all  should  ado])t  the  established  religion  in  its  articles 
of  lielief  and  modes  of  worship.  These  aroused  resistance 
b(;i!i  in  Scotland  and  in  England,  and  as  we  have  seen, 
tliose  who  resisted  the  invasion  of  their  rights  of  conscience 
Avere  called  "  Puritans." 

This  term,  designed  as  a  stigma,  deterred  all  but  those 
of  true  Christian  principle  from  uniting  with  them,  while 
they  on  whom   it   rested    gloried   in   it,   withstood    the 


iM 


:i  <i' 


-ST^ 


42 


HISTORY    OF    PRESBYTKRIANISM 


: 

iiiii  i 


1 1 


encroachment  upon  their  riglits,  and  (lemanded  greater 
sini])hcity  and  purity  of  worshij)  than  they  were  allowed 
in  the  Church  of  En<:;land.  >Sonie  of  their  ])roniinent  traits 
of  character  arc  thus  })resented  by  a  member  of  that  estab- 
lishment— Macaulay : 

''We  would  sjjeak,"  says  he,  ''of  the  Puritans  as  the 
most  reinarkal)le  body  of  men  which  the  world  has  ever 
produced.  The  odious  parts  of  their  character  lie  on  the 
surface.  Nor  have  there  been  wantinji;  malicious  observers 
to  point  them  out.  For  many  years  after  the  Restoration 
they  were  the  theme  of  unmeasured  invective  and  derision. 
Most  of  their  absurdities  were  external  badges,  like  the 
signs  of  Freemasonry,  or  the  dresses  of  friars.  We  regret 
that  these  badges  were  not  more  attractive.  But  the  Puri- 
tans were  men  whose  minds  had  derived  a  peculiar  char- 
acter from  tiie  daily  contemplation  of  superior  beings  and 
of  eternal  interests. 

*'  Not  content  with  acknowledging  in  general  an  over- 
ruling providence,  they  hal)itually  ascribed  every  event  to 
the  will  of  that  Great  Being,  for  whose  power  nothing  was 
too  vast,  for  whose  insi)ection  nothing  was  too  minute.  To 
know  him,  to  serve  him,  to  enjoy  him,  was  to  them  the 
great  end  of  human  existence.  They  rejected  with  con- 
tempt tlie  ceremonious  homage  whicli  other  sects  substi- 
tuted for  the  pure  worshi))  of  the  soul.  Instead  of  catch- 
ing occasional  glimpses  oi"  the  Deity  through  an  obscuring 
veil,  they  aspired  to  gaze  full  on  the  intolerable  brightness, 
and  to  connnune  with  him  face  to  face. 

"  Hence  originated  their  contempt  for  terrestrial  distinc- 
tions. They  recognized  no  title  to  sn})eriority  but  the 
divine  favor,  and,  confident  of  that  favor,  they  despised 
all  the  accomplishments  and  all  the  dignities  of  the  world. 
If  they  were  unaccjuainted  with  the  works  of  philosophers 
and  poets,  they  were  dee])ly  read  in  the  oracles  of  (_Jod. 
On  the  rich  and  eloquent,  on  nobles  and  priests,  they 
looked  down  with  contempt,  for  they  esteemed  themselves 
rich  in  a  more  precious  treasure,  and  elcK^uent  in  a  more 
sublinK^  language — nol)les  by  right  of  earlier  creation,  and 
priests  by  the  im])ositi()n  of  a  nnghtier  hand.  Those  had 
little  reason  to  laugh  at  them  who  encountered  them  in 
the  hall  of  debate  or  in  the  field  of  battle. 

"  These  men  brought  to  civil  and  to  military  affairs  a 


?? 


IN    NEW   ENGLAND. 


43 


itness, 


istmc-  1 
ut  the           '^ 

world.            !; 

ophers  < 
t'  (lod.            1 

S  they  1 
iiselves           1 

I  more           | 

m, and  f 
)se  had           | 

hem  in          .I 

flairs  a 


coolness  of  judgment  and  an  immutal)ility  of  ])urpose 
which  were  the  necessary  efiect  of  tlieir  zeal.  The  inten- 
sity of  their  feelings  on  one  siihject  made  them  tran(iuil 
on Cvery  other.  One  overpowering  sentiment  had  suh- 
jeeted  to  itself  j)ity  and  hatred,  amhition  and  fear.  Death 
liad  lost  its  terrors,  and  })leasure  its  charms.  They  had 
tJK'ir  smiles  and  their  tears,  their  raptures  and  their  sor- 
rows, hut  not  for  tlie  things  of  this  world.  They  had  tlicir 
minds  cleared  of  every  vulgar  passion  and  prejudice,  and 
raised  above  the  influence  of  danger  and  corruption. 

"  Such  were  the  Puritans,  and  such  were  they  made  by 
th(Mr  religion.  Not  always  faultless,  and  their  logic  at 
times  unsound,  they  'fell  into  extravagances  occasionally — 
the  effect  of  the  age  in  which  they  lived  ;  yet,  in  tlu>  excel- 
lence of  their  principles,  and  in  the  wisdom  and  result  of 
their  lal)ors,  they  formed  a  no))le  race  ol"  men,  sujx-rior  to 
the  ancestors  of  any  other  nation.'  To  this  class  belonged 
the  Scotch  Irish  Presbyterians.  Although,  as  we  have 
seen,  they  differed  from  'the  Pilgrims'  on  two  ])oints,  and 
in  government  were  entirely  diilerent  from  that  Congrega- 
tionalism which  sprang  up  in  the  colony,  still  (as  C'alvin- 
ists),  in  their  other  views  of  divine  truth  and  rijligious 
duty,  in  zeal  and  iirmness  to  resist  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
domination,  th(>y  were  in  harmony  with  them,  and  were 
their  fellow-suiferers  for  conscience  sake. 

"'The  Scotch  Irish'  are  dc-scendants  of  a  colony  Avho 
migrated  from  Argyleshirc?  in  Scotland  about  the  year 
1(112,  and  settled  in  the  Province  of  Ulster  in  Ireland.  In 
suppressing  a  rebellion  of  his  Roman  Catholic  sulijecls  in 
that  Province,  two  millions  of  acres  of  land,  almost  the 
whole  of  the  six  northern  counties,  including  Londonderry, 
fell  to  the  king,  James  the  First.  l>y  liberal  grants  he 
encouraged  his  Scotch  and  English  subjects  to  leave  their 
homes  and  settle  there,  as  an  increasing  ])ower  to  awe  and 
control  the  natives.  This  fact  accounts  extensively  for  the 
enmity  with  which  the  natives  regard  the  Protestants,  and 
intensities  their  sectarian  rancor — the  echo  of  which  is  still 
heard  in  'Ireland  for  the  Irish.' 

"  In  this  animosity  tlie  great  Irish  rebellion,  thirty  years 
afterwards,  in  the  reign  of  Charles  the  First,  originated,  in 
which,  according  to  .some  historians,  one  hundred  and  titty 
thousand  persons  were  massacred.     The  settlers  of  1612 


w 


44 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERTANISM 


! 


'II 


'  il 


received  accessions  in  succcedinf.!;  years,  and  near  the  end 
of  that  centnry  tlio  nilHtary  and  barharous  cxc  cutions  of 
Graliam  of  C'laverhouse,  in  the  r('i,u;n  of  James  the  Second, 
in  Scotland,  drove  njany  more  thither.  These  l^rotestants 
were  (Un*ing  the  time  of  Cromwell  and  for  a  few  years  sub- 
sequently protected  from  the  bitter  enmity  of  the  Pa{)ists; 
hut  they  had  afterwards  to  undergo  privations  and  sufl'er- 
in^'s  almost  unj)aralleled. 

This  monarch,  supi)osing  that  ho  could  subdue  the  con- 
sciences of  his  peo))le  and  l)ring  them  again  under  papal 
su])erstition,  was  the  cause  of  the  siege  of  Londonderry, 
1GS9,  a  citv  containing  then  about  ten  thousand  inhabi- 
tants.  Just  as  his  soldiers  were  about  to  enter,  "the  'Pren- 
tice Boys,"  thirteen  in  number,  drew  up  tlie  bridge  and 
locked  the  water  gate.  The  other  three  gates  were  soon 
securely  fastened. 

Famine,  bombshells  and  destitution  scattered  death 
within,  while,  under  the  intrepid  Walker,  Puritans  (of  the 
stamp  above  described  by  Macaulay)  held  their  position 
for  one  hundred  and  three  days,  until  relief  arrived  from 
England.  In  the  course  of  the  night  the  Irish  army — hav- 
ing lost  eight  or  nine  thousand  men  and  one  hundred  of 
their  best  officers,  in  their  abortive  attempts  to  reduce  the 
city — ran  away.  Although  James,  during  the  summer  of 
1690,  received  supplies  from  France,  yet  he  was  soon  after 
defeated  by  the  Protestants  under  king  William  in  person 
on  the  banks  of  the  Boyne.  At  Aghrim,  the  next  year,  his 
army  was  again  com})letely  routed,  and  by  the  capitulation 
of  Limerick,  which  soon  followed,  his  last  stronghold  in 
Ireland  was  lost,  and  an  end  put  to  all  his  hopes  of  the 
recovery  of  his  crown. 

"The  protracted  siege  of  this  little  city  in  all  its  connec- 
tions and  consequences,  when  duly  considered,  will  coni- 
])are  favorably  with  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  as  a  stand 
made  in  the  cause  of  ireedom.  And  yet,  im})ortant  as  it 
was,  how  few  comparatively  even  of  the  descendants  in  this 
country  of  the  brave  defenders  of  the  place,  who  had  even- 
tually to  subsist  on  dog-tlesh,  cat-tiesh,  rats,  mice,  tallow, 
salted  hides,  horse  blood,  etc.,  are  familiar  with  the  history 
of  that  event  upon  which  was  susjiended  the  rich  inheri- 
tance which  they  have  received  from  their  fathers,  and 
which  they  are  to  transmit  to  future  generations!     So 


IN    NEW    i:N(iI,AND. 


45 


important  did  tlic  king  and  Parliament  consider  the  defence 
of  this  city,  and  so  hi^dily  did  they  appreciate  the  vah)r, 
the  endurance  and  the  worth  of  its  defenders,  that,  in  atldi- 
tion  to  certain  grants,  an  act  was  passed  exemi)tir.,<;  from 
taxation  throuj^diout  the  Jiritish  dominions  all  who  liad 
Itorne  arms  in  the  city  durinti  the  sie.^e." 

!Such  t?'ied  spirits  when  they  emi^^rated  to  America,  such 
lovers  of  Christian  liherty,  were  well  prepared  to  encounter 
the  hardshijjs  and  endure  the  trials  of  forming  new  settle- 
ments. ^\'e  here  also  see  the  result  of  the  labors,  in  com- 
mon with  others,  of  lilair  and  Livingstone,  who  were  provi- 
dentially hindered  in  IG.'iO  from  coming  on  the  "  Eagle's 
Wing"  to  the  jNIerrimac.  The  grandchildren  of  their 
hearers  and  iieojjle  in  {]uo  time  fultilled  the  mission  which 
they  and  their  one  hundred  and  forty  fellow-passengers 
had  attempted  in  vain. 

Notwithstanding  their  firm  allegiance  to  the  crown,  the 
Irish  Presljyterians  found  themselves  after  the  downiall 
and  departure  of  James  to  France,  in  unpleasant  circum- 
stances, which  continued  under  William  the  Third,  Queen 
Ann  and  (leorge  the  First. 

They  were  dissenters  from  the  Church  of  England,  and 
had  to  exj.)eri(_'nce  many  embarrassments.  "  They  were 
indeed  permitted  to  maintain  their  own  forms  of  worship 
unmolested  ;  still,  they  were  compelled  to  aid  in  su})port- 
ing  a  minister  of  the  established  religion — and  a  tenth  part 
of  all  their  increase  was  rigorously  exacted  for  this  i)ur])Ose. 
Thev  also  held  their  lands  and  tenements  bv  lease  h'om  the 
crown,  and  not  as  projirietors  of  the  soil.  With  an  inex- 
tinguishable thirst  for  liberty,  they  could  not  bear  to  be 
thus  trammelled  in  their  civil  and  religious  rights."  They 
•were  surrounded  l)y  the  native  Irish,  and  "  on  the  same 
soil  (says  Macaulay)  dwelt  two  })opulations  locally  inter- 
mixed, morally  and  politically  sundered.  The  ditlerence 
of  religion  was  by  no  means  the  only  difference,  and  was 
not  perhai)S  even  the  chief  difference  which  existed  be- 
tween them.  They  sprang  from  different  stocks.  They 
S})oke  different  languages.  They  had  different  national 
characters,  as  strongly  o])posed  as  any  two  nations  in 
Europe.  They  were  in  widely  different  stages  of  civiliza- 
tion. There  could,  therefore,  be  little  sympathy  between 
them ;  and  centuries  of  calamitios  and  wrongs  had  gener- 
ated a  strong  antipathy." 


^0 


iSiHi 


m 


I 


;! 


1 


1  f' 


46 


HISTORY   OF    PHESBYTERIANISM 


,'  I 


"Tlio  n]')p(']lation  of  Irish  was  tlicn  trivcn  to  tlio  Celts 
and  to  those  I'aniilies  Avliich,  tht)ULrh  not  of  (VUie  oriirin 
had  in  the  eourse  of  a^ies  doLfenerated  into  Cckie  niainie»" 
These  |)eo))le,  ])i'ohahly  somewhat  mider  a  million  in  n' 
her,  luid  with   few  exc(^])tions  adhered   to  the  ("hnre. 
Home.     Amon.i!;  them  resich'd  ahont  two  hundred  th(>us;u..i 
eoh)nists,  proud  of  tlieir  Saxon  hlootl  and  of  tiieir  i^rotes- 
tant  faith. 

"The  f^n'eat  superiority  in  intelliirenr(>,  viLfor  and  orirani- 
zation  of  the  minority  over  the  others  more  than  eompeii- 
sated  for  their  excess  in  nunihers." 

The  one  ])eople  had  an  ()j)en  liihle  and  faitliful  ex- 
])ounders  of  its  truth — the  otlier.  tlieir  holy  watei'.  origans, 
haldaehins,  heads  and  erucitixes.  Mental  nourishment, 
so  varied,  necessarily  produced  lives,  manners  and  intlu- 
ences  of  a  totally  ditlerent  nature,  it  was  in  view  of  these 
associations,  emliarrassments  and  evils  experiencf-d  in  their 
native  land,  that  emii^n'ants  to  Anieriea,  and  esjieeialiy  the 
first  colony  of  Preshyterians  who  came  to  New  En;,dand, 
were  disposed  to  leave  toeir  homes  and  the  many  coin  forts 
there  enjoyed,  for  an  untried  reirion  and  the  lal)ors  and 
suirerin<i;s  incident  to  a  settlement  in  a  new  countr}'. 

''In  the  sixth  year  of  (ieor^e  the  First,  in  1719,  the  Par- 
liament of  Ireland  ))asse(l  an  Act  of  Toleration  (so  called), 
under  which  dissenters  must  suhscrihe  the  doctrinal  Arti- 
cles of  the  Church  of  England.  This  the  Irish  Presby- 
terians would  not  accept."     (  lfW>.,  ]).  UG.) 

Beside  this, '' they  were  chartred  with  persecuting;  their 
Ei)iscopal  countrymen,  forced  to  submit  to  the  'sacramental 
test,'  blamed  with  ]>erverting  the  royal  l>ounty  from  the 
jHU'poses  for  which  it  was  designed,  and  were  accused  of 
uniting  with  'the  disgusted  i)arty '  of  the  Established 
Church,  and  with  Deists,  Socinians  and  all  other  enemies 
of  revealed  religion,  anv^  even  with  the  Papists  themselves, 
in  order  to  destroy  the  constitution  of  the  kingdom."  For 
these  false  charges  they  sought  redress. 

In  November,  171o,  three  Presbyterian  ministers,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Kirkpatrick,  of  Belfast,  the  Rev.  John  Abernethy, 
of  Antrim,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Iredell,  of  Dublin,  laid  before 
the  Lord-Lieutenant  "a  re))resentation  of  the  state  of  their 
cliurch,  setting  forth  the  grievances  under  wdiicli  ministers 
und  people  were  still  aufiering,  and  they  state  how  discour- 


IN    NEW   ENGLAND. 


47 


tlio  C'clts 
ic  origin 
inniiiK"' 
I  in  IV 
hnrc. 
Llu)Usu...i 
r  Proterf- 

1(1  DririHii- 
c()nii)L'n- 

tliful  ex- 
■\\  organs, 
rishinciit, 
11(1  iii[hi- 
,v  of  these 
;(1  in  tlu'ir 
cially  the 

England, 
'  comforts 
ibors  and 
trv. 

,  {ho  Par- 
;o  called), 

nal  Arti- 
Prosby- 

mg  their 

'a  mental 

Vom  tlu! 

used  of 

ahlished 

enemies 

emselves, 

m. 


For 


.tors,  tlic 
)ernethy, 
id  before 
e  of  their 
ministers 
discour- 


i 


I 


I 


aiiod  tliev  were  by  tbe  frequent  disapi)ointment  of  tbeir 
liopes  ofVelief;  and  they  assure  his  jiraee  that  'the  nielan- 
chdlv  a|)|irehensions  of  these  thin<:s  have  put  several  of  us 
upon  the  thouuhts  of  transplantintj;  ourselves  into  Anu'rica, 
tiiat  we  may  there  in  a  wilderness,  enjoy,  by  the  hlessiui;- 
of  (Jod,  that  ease  and  (piiet  to  our  consciences,  jxtsohs  and 
fauiilies  which  is  denied  us  in  our  native  country.'"' 
( Jicid,  vol.  iii.,  |).  '.)•').) 

Although  after  the  accession  of  Gcorfje  the  First  to  the 
throne.'  in  1714,  some  of  their  <frievances  were  removed,  yet 
))reviously  thi'ir  ])ositi()n  was  uncomfortable,  for  in  171o 
"the  oppressed  brethren  from  the  north  of  Ireland  "  (as 
blather  calls  them)  beiran  to  eini^irate  to  New  Kniiland. 

The  Rev.  Thomas  ('rai;ihead,  who  came  anionir  the  first 
ministers  thus  self-l)anisiied,  arrived  in  ITlo.  His  i)iety 
was  highly  commended  by  the  liev.  Cotton  Mather,  yet  his 
views  of  ecclesiastical  polity  did  not  coincide  with  the  es- 
tahlished  relifiion  of  the  colony,  even  while  the  ])urity  of 
Puritanism  was  untarnished.  He  remaint-d  in  New  Eng- 
land about  eight  years.  He  was  emj)loyed  in  the  ministry 
at  Freetown  (or  Assonet),  Bristol  county,  Mass.,  and  in 
172.']  he  went  to  the  .Terseys.  He  was  afterwards  for  sev- 
eral years  jiastcjr  at  Pe(iuea,  in  Pennsylvania.  The  Presby- 
terians of  that  colony  requested  him  to  write  to  Presljyte- 
rians  landing  in  New  England,  and  be  accordingly  wrote 
to  the  Kev.  John  ^McKinstry  and  the  Rev.  .John  Camphell, 
urging  them  to  remove  to  his  vicinity.  In  their  cases  he 
was  not  successful.  They  died  in  the  service  of  Congrega- 
tionalisiu.  Pie  also,  in  17oB,  wrote  to  the  It<3V,  J(jlni 
Moorehead  and  his  congregation  in  the  name  of  the  Synod 
(  UV/>.).  urging  them  on  the  sus])(Mision  of  their  ])astor  to 
unite  with  them,  but  neither  dependence  nor  control  re- 
suhed  from  bis  solicitations.  No  connection  was  ever 
formed  between  the  Boston  congregation  and  that  Synod. 
»Soon  after  being  installed  pastor  of  Upi)er  and  Lower 
lIoj)ewell,  now  Big  Spring,  be  died  in  1789. 

No  associated,  nor  considerable  number  of  tbis  people 
ai)i.)ear  to  have  come  to  New  England  Ix'foro  17 IS,  when 
live  shiploads,  about  one  bundred  and  twenty  families, 
arrived  in  Boston  on  August  4th,  in  that  year. 

A  young  man,  a  son  of  a  Presbyterian  clergyman,  called 
Holmes,  had  visited  New  England^  and  of  it  had  taken  to 


48 


HISTORY   OF    PRESnYTEUIANLSM 


Ireland  a  very  favorable  nccoiint,  Consoquontly  his  fatlior 
ami  tlircH!  other  Presl>y(erian  ministers,  Jain(>s  McClrei^or, 
William  Connvcll  and  \\'illiam  JJoyd,  with  a  jjortion 
of  their  resi)ective  con;i;ro.<]i;ati()ns,  determined  on  a  removal 
to  these  colonies.  To  jjreparc  tiie  way  and  secure  a  recep- 
tion, they  early  in  the  year  1718  sent  tii(^  I'ev.  Mr.  P>oyd 
Avith  an  address  to  (iovernor  Shute  of  Massaehnsclts, 
oxpressinj;  a  strong  desire  to  remove  to  N(!W  lMii,dand 
if  lie  should  afibrd  to  them  suitable  encouracremcMit. 

They  also  em])loyed  Mr.  IJoyd  to  make  all  the  necessary 
arrangements  with  the  civil  authority  for  their  reception. 
This  address,  concise  and  appropriate,  is  signed  by  two 
hundred  and  seventc^en  ])ersons.  Nine  of  them  were  min- 
isters of  the  gospel,  three  of  the  others  were  graduates  at 
the  University  in  Scotland,  and  all  but  seven  (who  made 
their  marks)  subscribed  their  names.  Tiiis  fact  shows  tiiat 
they  were  su))erior  to  the  common  class  of  emigrants. 
]Mr.  Boyd  received  from  the  (lovernor  the  desired  encour- 
agement, and  so  soon  as  his  friends  in  Ireland  were  thus 
informed  by  him,  they  converted  their  ])roperty  into 
money,  and  embarked  in  five  shi))S  tor  I)Oston. 

Their  motives  for  colonization  and  removal  we  gather 
not  only  from  the  facts  above  stated,  but  lUso  from  a  manu- 
script sermon  of  the  Rev.  James  McGregor,  one  of  the  four 
jiastors  wdio  accomjjaniinl  their  Hocks  to  America.  It  was 
addressed  to  them  on  the  eve  of  their  embarking,  from 
those  very  ap])ro])riate  words  of  Moses  when  conducting 
the  chosen  tribes  to  the  promised  land  :  '*  If  thy  presence 
go  not  with  me,  carry  us  not  u])  hence."  In  the  a])plica- 
tion  of  the  subject  to  tlieir  emigration,  he  states  the  follow- 
ing as  reasons  of  removal  to  America: 

1.  To  avoid  o})j)ression  and  cruel  bondage. 

2.  To  shun  persecution  and  designed  ruin. 

3.  To  witlidraw  from  the  communion  of  idolators. 

4.  To  have  an  opportunity  of  worshi[)])ing  God  according 
to  the  dictates  of  conscience  and  the  rules  of  his  inspired 
word. 

The  fir.st  minister  of  Aghadoey  (sui)])0sed  to  be  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Boyd)  was  dej^osed  in  10(11  for  non-conformity, 
but  continued  to  minister  to  the  ])eoi)le  for  years.  He  re- 
tired to  Derry,  and  remained  in  tlie  city  all  the  time  of  the 
siege,  and  he  died  in  that  charge  in  IGDU.     He  was  suc- 


I 


IN    NKW   ENGLAND. 


40 


cccdcd  by  tho  Rov.  James  ^rrGrcfior,  wlio  wfis  ordained  in 
A.u'hadocy  on  Juno  27tli.  17U1.  In  1718  he  -esigned  the 
clKirL'O  und  cainc  to  Anicric:!. 

Sixteen  fiunilies  of  these  eniijirnnts  left  Boston  and  went 
to  Cusco  Bay,  now  I'ortland,  in  Maine,  to  found  a  settle- 
ment. They  arrived  tiiero  late  in  autumn.  Many  of  the 
families  had  to  remain  on  the  ship  all  winter,  and  they 
sud'ered  mueh. 

Before  ^'oing  in  sprinp;  to  select  their  territory,  to  which 
they  had  been  directed  by  Governor  SiuUe,  as  they  disem- 
barked (aceordinLC  to  tradition),  they  united  in  acts  of  re- 
liiiious  worshij),  devoutly  aelv.no\vledj:;in^  the  Divine  good- 
ness in  preservintj;  tiiem  from  the  danijers  of  the  sea  and 
durhiL:  the  unusually  severe  winter.  No  one  of  their  num- 
ber had  suffered  by  sickness  or  was  removed  by  death. 
fStandin;x  on  thi;  shore  of  the  ocean  which  separated  them 
from  their  native  land,  they  offered  their  devout  praises  in 
that  "  most  touching  of  all  songs,"  the  lu7th  psalm  in  the 
Presbyterian  metrical  version : 


"By  Bahel's  fitreams  we  sat  and  wept 
When  Zion  we  tliouprht  on." 


neting 

resence 

)plica- 

follow- 


le  Rev. 
ormity, 
He  re- 
e  of  the 
as  suc- 


"Oli.  liow  the  Lord's  sons:  shall  we  sing, 
Witliin  a  foroij;;!!  land  ! 
If  thoo,  .lonisaioiii,  1  forfrct, 
Skill  part  from  my  rigiit  hand." 

Although  the  arrival  of  the  shij^s  at  Boston  on  August 
4th,  1718,  was  duly  noticed,  yet  not  a  favorable  word  is 
said  of  tlie  passengers.  They  Avere  called  "a  parcel  of 
Irish."  /  ^ 

Nay,  the  story  is  more  than  tradition,  that  they  were 
not  favorably  received  by  the  inhabitants.  They  were  not 
pelted  with  rotten  potatoes  on  leaving  the  wharf,  for  there 
were  none  in  New  England  until  they  then  brought  them, 
but  with  other  missiles. 

They  were  Irish  and  not  English  ;  and  although  they, 
as  Presbyterians,  esca})cd  better  than  the  Quakers  and 
Anabaptists,  who  preceded  them,  had  done,  yet  their  pres- 
ence was  not  agreeable  to  those  who  had  hitherto  dwelt  so 
nearly  alone,  under  the  union  of  the  government  of  the 
colony  with  their  ^peculiar  ecclesiastical  regimen,  which 


-n 


.1  Ml 


[ 


•  i 


60 


HISTORY   OF    PKESnYTEUIANISM 


"  had  tnkon  its  rise  in  New  England."  rf)nsoqiicntTv,  tlioy 
goncrally  wont  to  the  interior,  to  t)i(^  wilderness,  and  less 
cultivated  parts  of  the  country,  while  individuals  of  then), 
by  indemnifying,  obtained  a  residence  in  BostcMi  and  other 
prosj)erous  towns. 

As  wo  hav(!  seen,  a  part  of  them  went  to  Casro  Bay. 
They  were  informed  hy  Governor  Shute,  that  there  was 
good  land  in  that  vicinity  which  they  mi^dit  have.  This 
was  to  them  ])leasant  intelliu'enee,  as  they  desired  to  carry 
into  effect,  as  a  community,  their  particular  dositrn  and 
secure  the  enjoyment  of  relijj;ious  ()rdinanc(>s  under  the 
ministry  of  their  favorite  teacher,  the  Kev.  James  ^Fc- 
Gregor.  In  the  meantime  he,  Avith  the  remaininti  families, 
retired  from  lioston  into  the  country;  some  to  Andover, 
others  to  Dracut,  until  a  suitable  tract  of  land  for  perma- 
nent settlement  should  be  found. 

On  the  openino;  of  sprlnfr,  they  commenced  an  examina- 
tion of  their  territory  in  the  wild(M'ness.  After  havinn;  ex- 
plored the  country  for  some  distance  eastward  from  Casco 
Bay,  finding  no  tract  that  pleased  them,  they  returned, 
went  westward  and  ascended  the  Merrimac  to  Haverhill, 
where  they  arrived  on  the  2d  of  A))ril,  old  style. 

While  at  Haverhill  they  heard  of  a  line  tract  of  land, 
about  fifteen  miles  distant,  called  Nutfield,  on  account  of 
the  abundance  of  the  chestnut,  butternut  and  walnut 
trees,  which  grew  in  its  forests. 

Leaving  their  families  at  Haverhill,  the  men  examined 

.the  tract,  and,  ascertaining  that  it  was  not  api)ropriated, 

they  at  once  decided  to  here  take  up  their  grant,  wliich 

they  had  obtained  from  Governor  Shute,  of  a  township 

twelve  miles  square. 

Having  selected  the  spot  on  which  to  commence  their 
settlement,  and  having  built  a  few  temporary  huts,  which 
they  left  in  charge  of  two  or  three  of  their  number,  they 
brought  from  Haverhill  their  families,  provisions,  im])le- 
ments  of  labor,  and  what  little  household  furniture  they 
could  collect.  A  ])art  returned  by  way  of  Dracut,  where 
!Mr.  McGregor  had  spent  the  winter  in  teaching,  that  they 
might  bring  him  with  them.  As  tradition  says,  the  two 
parties  arrived  about  the  same  time,  April  11th,  old  style, 
1719. 

Mr.  McGregor  made  to  them  an  impressive  address  on 


IN    NKW   ENGLAND. 


51 


1(1  less 
'  tlicni, 
I  ollii'r 

o  V>ny. 
re  was 
This 
o  carry 
Lin  and 
ler  the 
OS  Mc- 
iniilios, 
ndovcr, 
pernni- 

camhia- 

n  Casoo 
L'turncd, 
xverhill, 

of  land, 

onut  of 

wahiut 

aminod 

priaU'd, 

which 

ownship 


ice  their 

,  which 

)er,  they 

s,  im])le- 

Lire  they 

I,  where 

hat  they 

the  two 

)ld  style, 

dress  on 


1 


tlio  s]")ot  so  happily  selected,  conirratulatin?  Ihoni  on  tho 
propitious  teriiiinatioii  of  their  wan(U'rinu'S,  their  siixnal 
pi'iscrv.ition  as  a  company  while  crossinL'  the  ocean,  and 
sinci'  their  arrival  in  this  country,  and  exhorted  them  to 
continued  eonlidenee  in  (iod,  planted  as  they  now  wen; 
iu  tile  wildi'rness,  and  "  strangers  in  a  sfraniie  land."  On 
April  rJth.  under  a  larj;e  oak.  he  preached  to  them  (from 
Is.  x.wii.  2)  his  first  sernu)n  in  the  town.  Then,  for  tin; 
lii'st  time,  did  th  it  wildt'i'ness  and  solitary  j)lace,  over 
which  savage  trihi'S  had  for  c<nturies  roanieil,  resound 
with  the  voice  of  i)raise  and  |»rayer.  and  echo  to  the  sound 
of  the  iTospel,  The  s])ot  and  tree  were  lou'^^  after  reirarded 
with  a  dcLiree  of  reverence,  hut  in  the  last  one-third  of  tho 
nineteenth  centurv,  veneration  for  a  Calvinistie  ancestry, 
their  monuments,  hopes  and  i)i'os|>ects,  is  nearly,  if  not 
(ptite,  a  lost  virtue.  Tinar  rude  dwelliuiis  were  erected  on 
the  two  hanks  of  W'estrunninu;  hrook,  called  '' tiie  common 
Held,"  and  stood  thirty  rods  apart.  \\'hen  the  intervening; 
forests  had  heen  (as  they  soon  were)  cut  down,  in  sunnner 
evcnintis  "the  voice  of  rejoicinLr  and  salvation  "  was  heard 
ascendint!;  from  these  "  tahernacles  of  the  righteous,"  and 
few  scenes  this  side  of  heaven  tould  he  found  more  touch- 
injx  than  the  echoes  of  the  surroundintx  forests  to  the  voices 
of  these  devout  worsluppcrs,  as  they  lifted  up  their  even- 
inn;  sonujs  to  their  Father  in  heaven,  iis\ally  a])()nt  tho 
.'^ame  liour,  sometimes  in  the  same  tunes,  •'  Dundc^c's  wild 
AVarhlin,<j;s,"  or  "  Plaintive  Martyrs,"  Colcshill,  or,  tiie  Old 
Hundred.     Uj)  or  down  the  stream,  it  was  the  same. 

They  did  not  delay  in  securing;  the  means  of  f;racc,  and 
as  soon  as  it  could  l»e  done  in  order,  they  called  the  llov. 
James  Mc(Jrc^^)r  to  he  their  pastor.  They  had  to  suhniit 
to  some  informalities,  as  there  as  yet  existed  no  Preshytery 
of  the  hounds,  from  whom  they  coukl  ask  the  moderation 
of  a  call.  This  was  not  ahsolutely  necessary,  for  Mr.  Mc- 
Grcfror  had  heen  ordained  in  a.  d.  1701,  and  some  of  the 
families  had  formed  a  ))art  of  his  pastoral  change  in  Ire- 
land. "Accordinfily,  on  a  day  appointed  for  the  purpose, 
the  peo])le  having  assemhled,  he.  in  connection  with  ap- 
])ropriate  reli<j,ious  services,  solemnly  assumed  the  pastoral 
charjze  of  the  church  and  congretjation  ;  and  they,  with 
like  solemnity  and  hy  a  formal  act,  received  him  as  their 
pastor  and  spiritual  guide,     lie  preached  to  them  on  the 


,    t 


^^-^ 


62 


HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


I 

*    11 

1 

occasion  from  Ezekiel  xxxvii.  20.  To  the  infant  settle- 
ni(;nt  these  were  aj)i)roi)riate,  and  for  o(>npnitions,  pro- 
plietic  words.  IlavinLi;  shown  that  it  is  t!ie  Lord  who 
places  a  jx'ople  in  a  huid,  multiplies  tluMu  therein,  and 
affords  to  them  the  ordinances  of  religion,  he  reminded 
liis  hrethren  that  '  they  should  devoutly  aeknr)wled,u;c  the 
providence  of  God  in  all  j)ast  chan<:es,  particularly  in  their 
emigration  to  this  new  world ;  that  they  should  live  hy 
faith  in  what  was  before  them ;  fervently  ])ray  that  CJod 
would  continue  to  bless  them ;  be  firnily  united  with  one 
another;  walk  in  the  fear  of  God,  and  keej)  his  cluuye.'" 

These  discourses  show  that  their  removal  and  settle- 
ment was  from  religious  principle,  and  in  reliance  on  the 
divine  ijuidance  and  protection.  God  in  his  jjrovidence 
multi})lied  them,  so  that  from  this  settlement  many  others 
were  early  formed,  even  in  some  towns  where  they  met 
with  legislative  as  well  as  ecclesiastical  opposition. 

Having;  thus  the  opportunity  of  dwellin<r  alone  in  their 
town,  which  was  incorporated  in  June,  1722,  of  (lontrollin"; 
its  civil  matters,  and  favored  from  the  first  with  moral 
and  religious  institutions,  they  soon  became  a  thriving, 
prosperous  and  respectal)le  connnunity.  In  1723  they 
built  a  house  for  their  minister,  and,  in  the  next  year,  a 
meeting-house.  In  six  years  they  had  four  schools  in 
town — kept,  each  of  them,  for  one-half  of  each  year — and 
within  nine  years  of  its  first  settlement,  Londonderry  paid 
one-fifteenth  of  the  State  tax. 

It  was  not  only  a  place  of  rest  to  which  not  a  few  of 
their  countrymen  resorted,  Init  it  soon  became  a  nursery, 
from  which  several  other  towns  were  formed. 

Instead,  however,  of  tracing  the  organization  and  estab- 
lishment of  churches  in  those  towns,  which  princi])ally,  or, 
in  ])art,  obtained  their  population  from  this  maternal  one, 
thus  civilly  and  religiously,  so  favorably  situated,  we  now 
chronologically  direct  our  attention  to  sketclies  of  the  his- 
tory of  other  i)ortions  of  "  the  ojjpressed  brethren  from  the 
north  of  Ireland." 

I  begin  with  those  who  sought  a  home  in  "Worcester, 
Massachusetts.  "This  town  (savs  Wm.  Lincoln,  Esq., 
Hist.  Wor.,  pp.  47,  48,  191,  194,  Ed.  1837)  shared  liberally 
in  an  accession  to  the  population  by  a  colony  of  Scots,  in 
the  early  years  of  the  lust  century.     Loaded  (in  Ireland) 


■■-■J 


IN    NEW  ENGLAND. 


53 


settle- 
is,  pi'o- 
I'd  who 
11,  und 
nindod 
l,«j;c  the 
n  tlu'ir 
live  by 
at  CJod 
itli  one 
.r>re.' " 
settle- 
on  tlie 
vidence 
:  others 
ley  met 

in  their 
I  troll  inn; 
1  moral 
hriving, 
23  they 

yearj-Ji 
lools  in 
ir — and 

ry  paid 

few  of 
nursery, 

d  estab- 
ally,  or, 
nal  one, 
we  now 
tlie  his- 
Vom  the 

orcester, 
n,  Esq., 
iherally 
■^cots,  in 
Ireland) 


with  the  tythes  of  the  harvest,  and  with  lands  held  by 
tenancy  under  exorbitant  rents,  they  embarked  for  a  coun- 
try, where  "  (they  supjiosed)  "  rc'li<j:ious  freedom  was  united 
witli  civil  lilKU'ty,  and  neither  tytliin^-man  nor  tax-jjath- 
ercr  had  oppressive  juriscHction.  A  company  of  them  ar- 
rived in  1719,  and  it  is  said  they  were  accompanied  by  the 
Kev.  Edward  Eitzgerald  from  Londonderry,  who  preached 
to  them  for  some  time  in  the  ohl  [garrison  house.  Tiiey 
suffered  ilhberal  opposition  and  even  active  hostihty. 

"  Having  formed  a  religious  society,  tliey  coniinenccfl 
the  erection  of  a  mectimr-house  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Boston  road,  north  of  the  house  of  Frederic  W.  Paine, 
Esq.  The  material  had  been  procured,  the  frame  had  been 
raised,  and  the  buildin<:;  was  fast  in  {)rogres8  of  construc- 
tion, when  the  inhabitants  gathered  tumultuously  by 
night,  hewed  down  and  demolished  the  structure.  Per- 
sons of  consideration  and  respectability  aided  in  the  riot- 
ous work  of  violence,  and  the  defenceless  foreigners  were 
compelled  to  submit  to  the  wrong. 

"  The  riotous  act  was  sustained  by  the  intolerant  spirit 
of  the  day,  and  the  injured  foreigners  were  compelled  to 
mourn  in  silence  over  the  ruins  of  their  altar,  profaned  by 
the  hand  of  violence." 

In  our  boasted  "hght  of  the  nineteenth  century"  to 
many,  such  violence  by  a  devout  peo])le  making  a  high 
profession  of  godliness,  will  appear  almost  incredible,  but 
it  was  even  so. 

*'  The  strangers  were  not  treated  with  common  decencj'' 
by  their  P]nglisli  neighbors,"  whose  fears  were  excited  lest 
they  should  outnumber  thgm  in  town-meeting  and  com- 
pel them  to  support  a  Presbyterian  minister.  "  Let  us 
deal  wisely  with  them,  lest  they  multiply  and  they  Ix'come 
more  and  mightier  than  we,"  was  the  language  of  the  new 
king  over  Egypt,  tliat  knew  not  Joseph.  And  the  same 
principle,  the  fear  of  the  loss  of  civil  power,  then  actuated 
those,  who,  as  yet,  controlled  the  compulsory  sui)port  of 
the  gospel  in  this  town.  "  Little  care  was  taken  (says  Mr. 
Lincoln)  to  ])reserve  the  memorials  of  this  unoffending, 
but  jiersecuted  people,  whose  history  discloses  only  tho 
injustice  and  intolerance  of  our  ancestors.  Few  facts  can 
now  be  ascertained  of  tlieir  struggles  with  the  prejudices 
and  hostility,  which  linally  drove  them  away  to  seek  an 


''if 


I  1. 


54 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIANISII 


nsylum  in  otlicr  colonies.  The  numher  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian eoniniunicants  is  said  to  have  b(^en  nearly  ecjual  to 
those  of  the  ('ongre<2;ational  Church,  and  the  Presbyterian 
elerirynian  was  once  invited  to  occupy  tlie  vacant  ])ulpit, 
but  the  request  was  not  repeated."     (P.  11)2.) 

How  lon<^  the  Rev.  Mr.  Fitzgerald  labored  amonj;  them 
is  uncertain,  but  it  was  not  ])robably  long,  as  he  (t^ays  Mr. 
Lincoln)  "removed  for  want  of  maintenance,  and  left 
A\'()rcester  belbre  the  settlement  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Purr,"  on 
October  13th,  1725.*  "At  his  settlement,  it  was  under- 
stood, that  if  the  Presbyterians  would  aid  voluntarily  in 
liis  support,  they  should  be  permitted  to  place  in  the 
pulpit,  occasionally,  teachers  of  their  own  denomination; 
and  the  foreigners  united  with  the  other  iniiabilants." 

After  some  time,  they  found  that  their  expectations  would 
not  be  realized. 

They  then  withdrew,  and  the  Rev.  Wm.  Johnston  was 
installed  as  their  minister. 

This  took  ])lace  some  time  near  1736.  When,  from  the 
loss  of  the  records  of  Presbytery,  does  not  api)ear. 

Being  comiJeHed  to  contribute  to  the  sup))ort  of  Mr. 
Burr,  an  a])peal  was  made  to  the  justice  of  their  fellow-towns- 
men  in  173G-7  by  the  Presbyterians  for  relief  from  a  tax 
inconsistent  with  their  religious  ])rivileges,  as  British 
sul)jects,  but  without  avail.  The  Congregational  oppo- 
nents, in  their  answer,  said  that  "the  ordination  of 
^Ir.  Johnston  was  disorderly.  The  recorded  answer  to 
their  api)lication  furnishes  a  curious  specimen  of  mingled 
subtlety  and  illiberality.  "  (P.  103.)  We  insert  it,  as  a 
fact  from  which  the  reader  can  make  his  own  deductions. 

"  In  1736-7,  the  Scotch  Presbyterians,  ten  })ersons,  resi- 
dents, ])rayed  to  b(^  relieved  iVoni  suj)])orting  Mr.  ]]urr,  as 
they  had  settled  the  Rev.  Wm.  Johnston.  Their  petition 
was  refused  as  unreasonable,"  for  1st.  It  does  not  appear 
from  their  names  who  they  are,  and  it  would  be  too  much 
at  random  to  do  so. 

2dly.  It  does  not  ap]>ear  that  they  arc  actuated  by  just 
principles  of  conscience,  as  should  necessitate  their  forsak- 
ing us.     Wo  hold  to  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith, 


*Tii  172()  tlicrc  was  due  by  the  town  "to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Fitzgerald 
je2."     (Town  Kecordri.) 


IN    NEW    ENGLAND. 


55 


left 


M 


I 


which,  thoy  sny.  thoy  promised  to  adhere  to.  We  do  not 
snl)stantialiy  diirer  from  the  divines  at  Westminster  as  to 
the  worsiiip,  di.seij)line  and  government*  of  the  church. 
They  may  enjoy  their  way,  which  they  call  Presbyterian- 
ism,  witii  us  and  their  consciences  not  be  imposed  upon  in 
anytiiing.  A  number  of  those  now  withdrawing  were 
jointly  concerned  in  settling  Mr.  Burr  and  in  our  fellow- 
ship. "  We  know  not  why  they  should  not  continue  with 
us, 

3dly.  We  look  on  the  matter  as  disorderly,  not  to  men- 
tion that  the  ordination  of  their  minister  they  speak  of 
was  disorderly  even  with  respect  to  the  ])rinciples  by 
whicii  they  pretend  to  act  by,  as  well  as  with  us,  up  to  whom 
they  stand  related,  and  they  enjoy  with  us  all  proper 
social,  Christian,  and  civil  rights.  Their  separating  from 
us  being  contrary  to  the  ])ublick  establishment  and  laws 
of  this  j)rovince  and  contrary  to  their  own  covenant  with 
us,  and  also  very  unreasonably  weakening  to  the  town, 
whose  numbers  and  dimensions,  the  north  ])art,  being  ex- 
empted by  the  vote  of  the  town  from  })aying  to  Mr.  Burr, 
will  not  admit  of  the  honorable  support  of  two  ministers 
of  the  gospel,  and  tending  to  breed  division,  destructive  of 
our  peace,  and  u])on  which  and  other  accounts,  the  town 
refuse  to  comply  with  the  request  of  dismissing  said  peti- 
tioners."    (Tova  Records.) 

"Many  unable  to  endure  the  insults  and  bitter  preju- 
dices they  encountered,  removed  to  Otsego  county,  N.  Y. ; 
others  joined  their  brethren  of  the  same  denomination, 
who  had  now  commenced  the  settlement  of  the  town  of 
Pelham,  Mass.,  and  were  se)me  years  afterward  under  the 
pastoral  care  of  the  Rev.  Halj)h  Abercrombie." 

"About  thirty  "  (it  is  nuieh  to  be  regretted  that  ^Ir.  Lin- 
coln does  not  say  which,  persons,  or  families)  "remained 
in  Worcester  atter  the  dispersion  of  the  rest."t  Their  pas- 
tor, the  Rev.  Wm.  Johnston,  was  settled  in  Windham,  N.  H., 
early  in  1747.     '"  Their  settlements  in  other  places  were  ap- 


I 


4 


ii 


Ii 


(    ■-.  If  1 


ti 


III 


I 

14 


* \h  to  "government,"  this  is  simply  imtnie. 

+  Tlie  ancestry  of  tlie  Hlairs  of  political  fame  In  Washinj^ton,  D.  C, 
•ind  in  Missonri,  as  well  as  of  those  in  Tniro,  Nova  Si't)lia,  and  Doston, 
after  the  middle  of  the  lUth  century,  were  buried  in  Worcester  before 
tiie  dispersion. 


,-<lf1" 'WrSSSEE 


56 


HISTORY   OF   rRI-:snYTERIAMSM 


preached  by  bodies  of  armed  men,  and  thoir  property  in 
some  instances  wantonly  destroyed.''  "Tlicy  were  every- 
where abused  and  misrepresented  as  Irish.''     (P.  48.)* 

To  remove  this  odium,  they  i)t'titioned  the  General 
Court  of  Massachusetts  to  call  them  Scots,  yet  their  relig- 
ion contributed  much  more  to  produce  and  vivify  it  than 
did  their  race  and  nation. 

The  germ  of  all  the  opposition  shewn  to  them  was 
in  their  scriptural  form  of  church  government.  If  they 
had,  like  the  Scotch,  who  were  hrought  over  in  a.  d.  1652, 
made  (so  far  as  now  appears)  no  ed'orts  to  organize  Pres- 
byterian churches,  but  melted  away  religiously  into  the 
common  mass,  this  odium  would  have  been  soon  lost  by  in- 
termarriages and  the  iniiuenct.'s  of  the  other  social  relations. 
The  General  court,  never  surcharged  with  love  to  Prcsijyto- 
rians,  nor  their  principles,  does  not  appear  to  have  granted 
the  desired  relief.  The  Sayhrook  ])latform,  adojjted  in  a.  d. 
1708,  sufficiently  verifies  the  i)osition,  that  the  "front  of 
their  offending  "  was,  that  they  were  Presbyterians.  In  it, 
this  order  of  polity  is  ignored,  if  not  opposed. 

To  these  strangers,  however,  it  was  dear — not  only  be- 
cause that  to  its  blessings,  under  the  kind  providence  and 
grace  of  God,  they  were  indebted  for  all  their  heroism  of 
soul,  which  they  possessed,  but,  because,  in  their  belief,  it 
was  the  only  form  authorized  by  the  Holy  Scriptures ;  as 
both  Prelacy  and  Congregationalism  must  borrow  from  it, 
while  it  cannot,  in  safety,  borrow  anything  from  either  of 
them. 

How  early  measures  were  taken  to  form  a  Presbytery 
in  New  England  and  to  unite  its  subordinate  courts,  we  do 
not  precisely  know,  as  time  and  neglect  have  wasted  not  a 
little  of  the  records.  Of  these,  the  earliest  extant  are  the 
sessional  minutes  of  the  First  church  in  Derry,  X.  II., 
which  commence  in  a.  d.  172o.  From  these,  and  other 
collateral  sources,  such  as,  references  of  matters  to  the 
Synod  in  Ireland,  from  town  records,  and  direct  references 
to  the  action  of  Presbytery,  in  controversial  communica- 
tions published  by  its  members  and  still  extant — we 
gather,  that  a  Presbytery  was  formed  probably  between 
1726  and  1729. 


*"At  this  (late  (.iboiit  17r?(),)  one  ounce  of  silver  was  wortli,  or  eciual  to, 
twentj-nine  shillings  in  paper."     {Liacola.) 


as 


IN  NEW   ENGLAND. 


57 


Not  only  (lid  tho  oiniofration  from  Ireland  of  1718  in- 
clude four  Presbytorian  ministers  (the  Rev.  Messrs.  Mc- 
(Jre^or,  Cornwell,  Boyd,  and  Holmes),  of  whom  a  part  re- 
mained in  New  Eniiland  I'or  years,  l)ut  the  Uev.  Andrew 
LeMercier,  a  ^rraduate  of  (Jeneva,  commenced  his  pastoral 
labors  in  the  French  church  in  Boston  in  1719,  and  in  the 
same  year  (as  we  have  seen)  the  Rev.  p]dward  Fitzgerald, 
accompanied  (as  is  supposed)  l)y  some  of  his  people,  came 
to  Worcester.  He  miglit  possibly  have  been  a  member  of 
the  orit^inal  Presbytery. 

In  the  absence,  then,  of  records,  we  find  not  only  num- 
bers of  ministers  sufHcient.  but  also,  the  api)ointments  of 
ruling  elders  by  sessions  to  meetin;:s  of  Presbytery,  and 
references  from  this  court  to  the  Synod  in  Ireland.  We 
find  also,  as  early  as  a.  d.  1720-o(>,  men  ordained  to  the 
Avork  of  the  ministry,  whicli  among  Presbyterians  is  done 
always  and  only  by  Presljytery.  This  Presbytery  at  its 
organization  was  called  the  "  Presiiytery  of  London- 
derry," and  nicknamed,  "the  Irish  Pr^-sbytery." 

We  are  not  to  understand,  however,  that  all  who  were 
Presbyterians  in  their  native  land,  upon  their  arrival  in 
New  England,  united  with  it.  Where  a  particular  denom- 
ination liave  the  ascendencv  in  a  region,  thev  absorb  not 
a  little  and  often  contrt)l  large  ])ortions  of  tin;  mmor  sects, 
who  dwell  with  them.  This  a))plies  extensively  to  the 
ministry, who  are  "men  of  like  passions  with  t)thers;  "  es- 
l)ecially,  where  tenacity  of  principle  might  demand  re- 
moval, a  lower  social  position,  or  a  gra])i)ling  with  poverty. 
Consequently  there  were  those  who  came  to  these  colonies, 
"who  departed  from  "  their  avowed  principles,  who  "went 
not  with  "  the  Presbytery  "to  the  work,"  and  who  hired 
themselves  out  to  serve  Congregational  parishes  ;  such  as 
the  Rev.  John  McKinstry,  from  Brode,  who  settled  in  Sut- 
ton, Mass.,  in  1721),  the  Rev.  .James  liillhouse,  at  New  Lon- 
ilon,  Ct.,  in  March,  1722,  the  Ivev.  John  Campl)ell  (said  to 
be  a  Scotchman),  at  Oxford,  Mass.,  on  October  od,  1722,  the 
Rev.  John  Graham,  in  Stafl'ortl,  Ct.,  on  May  21)th,  a.  n, 
1723,  and  the  Rev.  Samuel  Dorrance,  who  w;is  settled  at 
Voluntown,  Windham  county,  Ct.,  in  a.  d.  1723. 

Others  again,  on  surveying  the  field  oc<'U]ii('d  by  their 
brethren, returned  home.  In  171S  the  Rev.  Wm.  Boyd,  who 
had  been  minister  of  McCaskey,  in  Ireland,  was  among  the 


-IJ 


\    : 
5> 


Vl 


li 


i 
t 

!    ;    t 


i 


V 


I 


\l 


'% 


58 


HISTORY   OF   PRKSBYTERIANISM 


I 


emiffrants.  Ho  ofiTipiated  onro  at  "tho  wockly  Incturo"  in 
Boston  (on  March  IDth,  1719),  and  of  him  th(»  Rev.  Increase 
JNIathcr,  on  Man^li  2.',th,  1710.  says :  ''Tiic  Rev.  Mr.  IJoyd 
arrived  hist  summer.  He  was  educated  in  Edinhuruh, 
studied  in  (fhisirow  (i)rohal)ly  divinity),  and  was  ordained 
at  McCaskey,  in  Ireland.  The  issue  of  this  aHiiir,  the  com- 
ing to  America,  lias  a  (jreat  dependence  on  his  conduct — 
and  since  the  Rev.  author  (of  the  sermon  delivered  at  tlio 
lecture  aforesaid)  is  returning  to  his  native  country,  let  the 
grace  of  Christ  he  with  him." 

This  "  prayer  of  a  righteous  man  "  was  prohahly  at  lea.st 
as  "fervent"  as  it  wouhl  have  l)een  on  his  behalf  if  Mr. 
Boyd  had  remained  in  New  England. 

He  returned,  settled  at  Taboyne,  and  lived  to  a  good  old 
age. 

At  the  same  time  the  Rev.  William  Cornwell  arrived. 
He  formerly  belonged  to  the  Presbytery  of  Monaghan,  and 
settled,  witli  a  number  of  families,  in  Porpooduc.  on  Casco 
Bay.  While  there  4ie  probably  lielonged  to  said  Presby- 
tery, but  how  long  he  continued  or  to  what  i)art  he  re- 
moved is  not  known.  A  Mr.  Woodside,  who  came  from 
Ireland,  succeeded  him  in  taking  charge  of  that  peoj^le,  but 
he,  exposed  to  many  privations  and  discouragements,  soon 
(it  is  l)elieved)  returned  home.  fStill,  so  far  as  numbers 
were  concerned,  there  remained  among  the  emigrants  min- 
isters enough  to  form  and  sustain  a  Presbytery,  and,  as  we 
have  seen,  this  was  not  long  delayed.  We  su|)i)ose  it  to 
have  been  organized  l)efore  the  death  of  the  Rev.  James 
McCJregor,  on  ^Nlarch  5th,  a.  d.  172'.). 

Who  were,  or  how  many  were  members  of  it  in  its  early 
existence,  cannot  be  fully  known,  i)ut  within  twenty-five 
years  of  their  first  settlement  at  Ivondonderry,  it  is  be- 
lieved that  LeMercier,  James  McCJregor,  Edward  Fitzger- 
ald, William  Jolmston,  John  Moorehead,  William  Mc- 
Cltjnahan,  Matthew  Clarke,  John  Harvey,  John  Caldwell, 
Thomas  Thompson,  Clarke,  of  Kingston,  N.  H..  I)alrym])le, 
Wilson,  Morton,  Rutherford,  Davidson,  probal)ly  Urciuhart, 
and,  it  may  be,  others,  were  members  of  said  Presl)ytery. 

We  glean  some  items  of  their  manner  of  ])roce(iure  from 
existing  documents,  by  which  we  ascertain  their  strict  ad- 
herence to  Presi)yterian  ])rinciples. 

lu  the  Synod   of  Ulster  in  1705  all  candidates  were 


IN   NEW  ENGLAND. 


59 


re  "  in 

M 

crease 

« 

.  Hov.l 

1 

l)uru;li, 

:1 

daincd 

e  coin- 

T 

duct— 

at  tho 

1 

let  the 

'^V 

at  least 

if  Mr. 

.J 

00 d  old 

arrived. 
I  an.  and 
n  Casco 
Presby- 
t  be  re- 
iie  from 
pie,  but 
its,  soon 
lumbers 
Us  min- 
d,  as  we 
)se  it  to 
James 

ts  early 
nty-tive 
t  IS  be- 
FitzL^er- 
un  Mc- 
aUlwell, 
yni])le, 
rcjubart, 
)ytery. 
lire  from 
trict  ad- 

tes  were 


required  to  subscribe  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faitli. 
To  these  standards  they  expressed  a  firm  adherence  in 
17"J2.  Tills,  those  now  in  New  England  did  not  as  yet 
abate. 

On  Marcli  2d,  1721)-30,  James  Reed  was  ajipointed 
as  the  ruling  elder  from  the  sessiori  of  I.ondonderry  to  the 
Presbytery  at  Boston,  by  wliich  Mr.  John  ^h)orehead  was 
ordained  to  the  ministry  on  the  8()th  of  tliat  month.  The 
session  also  ordered  "that  his  (Mr.  K.'s)  expenses  for  man, 
horse  and  time  be  paid  by  a  collection,"  which,  when  taken, 
amounted  to  £3.  8,s. 

We  gather  from  his  own  record  that,  in  order  to  larger 
usefuhiess  in  gathering  the  people  prepjiratory  to  their  or- 
ganization as  a  church,  Mr.  Moorehead  was  then  ordained 
without  charge. 

The  liev.  Mr.  Clarke,  of  Kingston,  was  invited  by  the 
Rev.  Mr.  McCregor  and  his  session  to  assist  at  the  dispen- 
sation of  the  Lord's  .Sui)per  at  Londonderry  on  the  loth 
day  of  October,  1727.  April  T^th,  a.  d.  1731,  T.  S.,  who  had 
by  previous  appointment  of  session,  "  ah'eady  appeared 
three  several  yal)bath  days  before  the  congregation,  and 
had  also  appeared  belbre  Presbytery,"  was  on  tliat  day  be- 
fore and  b}' the  session  "  absolved  of  the  heinous  sin  of 
adultery." 

At  tiie  communion,  on  the  first  Sabbath  in  June,  1732, 
Mr.  ^Moorehead  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wilson,  of  Chester, 
N.  IL,  were  invited  to  assist,  and  on  a  similar  occasion  said 
sessional  record  states  :  "  October  Uth,  1732,  liaving  had  the 
sacrament  yesterday,  we  had  of  communicants  GOO.  Our 
collection  was  £li).  ll.^'.  1()(/.  All  charges  being  })aid,  there 
remain  £7,  which  is  given  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  M'ilson." 

To  install  the  Rev.  Thomas  Tliomi)son,  who  was  or- 
dained by  the  Presbytery  of  Tyrone,  in  Ireland,  for  Lon- 
donderry, N.  PL,  and  who  arrived  October  3d,  1733,  the 
said  Presbytery  met  on  October  10th. 

The  session  make  this  record  in  their  minutes  of  October 
5th:  ''There  being  a  Presbytery  to  be  here  on  Wednesday 
next.  Justice  Duncan  and  Mr.  McKeen  are  to  attend 
them."  "  October  loth,  session  met.  There  being  a  col- 
lection for  tlie  Presbytery,  there  were;  £10  5.,  of  which  was 
given  to  Mr.  LeMercier  and  Mr.  Moorehead  and  their 
elders  £8,  and  the  rest  for  man  and  horse  to  bring  them 
from  Haverhill,  and  to  take  them  there  again."     (lb.) 


'•I 


).| 


ill 


!h 


60 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


November  11th,  1733,  a  case  of  severe  discipline  "  was 
recommended  to  the  Presbytery.''  Another  similar  case, 
Fel)ruary  19th,  1734,  which  session  were  requested  to 
review,  they  resolved  "  it  should  go  to  the  Presbytery." 
"  October  7th,  1734,  Thomas  Wallace  and  John  Crai<i  were 
af)i)ointed  by  session  to  attend  tiie  Presbytery."  "  March 
9th,  1735,  James  Reed  was  aj)pointed  to  attend  Presbytery  " 
as  an  elder,  and  William  Lyon  to  appear  l)y  order  of  ses- 
sion before  Presl)ytery  to  undergo  discipline.  "April  lOth, 
1735,  a  case  of  discipline  was  receivcMl  back  by  session 
from  Presbytery."  December  11th,  1735,  the  sacrament 
deferred  "  until  after  the  Presbytery,  and  William  Coch- 
rane to  attend  the  Presbytery." 

"January  8th,  173G,  John  Stewart  appealed  from  the 
session  to  the  Presbytery,  and  to  give  his  reasons  in  ten 
days." 

On  "June  19th,  1734,  a  case  occurred,  which  said  Pres- 
bytery could  not  settle,  and  the  ^loderator,  the  Rev.  John 
Moorehead,  was  appointed  to  refer  it  to  the  Synod  in 
Ireland." 

These  facts  from  existing  records  show  their  orderly  and 
formal  Presbyterian  way  of  conducting  business  in  church 
courts. 

Their  manner  of  admitting  ])ersons  to  the  eldership  also 
partook  but  little  of  moilern  looseness  and  congregational 
l)roclivities,  as  said  sessional  records,  while  they  collater- 
ally prove  the  existence  of  a  Presbytery,  will  verify. 

In  enlarging  the  session  on  "March  25th,  1736,  the 
elders-elect  were  nominated  to  the  Presl)vterv,  and  the 
session  agreed  that  their  names  should  be  ])uhlished  before 
the  congregation.  At  a  meeting,  June  lUth,  173G,  the  ses- 
sion having  deliberately  ])roceeded  with  the  above-named 
(six)  men  to  he  added  to  the  session,  ])y  nominating  them 
to  the  Presbytery,  as  also  their  names  to  the  congregation, 
do  agree  that  they  sliail  be  ordained  elders  on  the  23d  of 
June  inst." 

The  ordination  of  probationers  to  the  work  of  the  min- 
istry was  also  performed  by  said  Presbytery.  Mr.  Josej)h 
Harvey,  licentiate,  who  had  received  his  education  in  Ire- 
land, was  elected  pastor  of  the  church  of  Palmer,  Mass., 
and  was  ordained  and  installed  in  said  charge  by  the  Lon- 
donderry Presbytery  on  the  5th  day  of  June,  1734.     The 


IN    NEW    KNGLAND. 


61 


"  was 

•  case, 
cd  to 
tcry." 
r  were 
March 
.•tery" 
of  pes- 
l  lOth, 
;cPsioii 
•anient 
Coch- 

>m  the 
in  ten 

d  Pres- 
V.  John 
nod  in 

irly  and 
church 

lip  abo 
ational 
ollater- 

36,  the 
uul  the 
d  heloro 
the  ses- 
b-nanied 
\ir  thein 
eiration, 
23d  of 

he  min- 
.  Joseph 
in  Ire- 
r,  Mass., 
lie  Lon- 
i4.     The 


1 


f 

i 


records-  of  that  town  show  tliat  it  was  settled  by  emip^rants 
from  KuL'land  and  the  north  of  Ireland  in  1727,  and  the 
church  was  formed  in  1780.  Thu  Kev.  Mr,  Kil[)atrick 
first  visited  them,  and  preached  there  live  Sabbaths. 

He  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Weld,  who  ])reached 
to  them  for  three  months,  and  was  then  succeeded  hy  the 
Kev.  licnjamin  Dickenson  for  six  months. 

We  then  learn  also  from  tiie  "  Troprietor's  Records"  that 
"after  preachin<]t  to  them  for  four  years,  the  liev.  Jose])h 
Harvey  was,  on  the  5th  day  of  June,  1734,  ordained  and 
installed  the  iirst  minister  of  the  church  in  Klhow  settle- 
ment hy  the  Rev,  the  dele!;ates  of  the  Presbytery  of  J.on- 
donderry  upon  a  scaflbld  standing  on  a  plain  on  the  east 
side  of  the  meadow,  called  Cedar  Swamp  Meadow,  within 
Mr,  Harvey's  lot.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Tiiompson,  from  London- 
derry, ])reached  the  sermon,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Moorehead 
gave  the  charges." 

Thus,  although  its  records  are  lost  and  the  steps  taken 
in  (and  the  date  of)  its  formation  are  unknown,  yet  we 
liave  the  original  Presbytery  of  Londonderry  mentioned 
by  name  in  existing  records,  and  we  can  speak  of  it  with 
certainty.  It  continued,  as  we  may  subsequently  see,  for 
about  forty  years. 

We  now  ])roceed  to  trace  the  origin  and  progress  of  what 
was  probably  the  third  church  formed  by  "the  oi)pressed 
brethren  from  the  north  of  Ireland,"  in  New  England. 

Londonderry  having  civil  })rivileges,  and  no  rival,  nor 
overshadowing  sect  to  whose  church  funds  it  must  contrib- 
ute, was  not,  for  the  same  number  of  years  which  it  had 
then  thus  existed,  surpassed,  if  ever  equalled  in  New  Eng- 
land, for  the  ])rosperity,  civil  and  religious,  of  its  people. 
Consequently,  it  was  now  preparing  by  its  sources  of  in- 
crease to  send  out,  even  in  the  first  quarter  of  a  century 
of  its  existence,  its  offspring  as  colonies. 

The  Church  of  Worcester,  on  the  contrary,  was  pros- 
trated in  the  dust  before  the  bitter  influences  of  sectarian- 
ism, and  those  of  its  members  who  were  possessed  of  strong 
gospel  principles  had  to  remove  to  the  deeper  toils  and 
dangers  of  the  wilderness,  for  ''  freedom  to  worship  God." 
After  the  departure  of  the  Rev.  Wm.  Johnston,  parents 
were  obliged  to  take  their  children  to  distant  towns 
for  baptism,  and  after  the  destruction  of  their  church  edi- 


'I    ■ 


I 


jl 


^■f^ 


62 


HISTORY   OF   PRKSBYTERIAMSM 


fico  a  hiv^e  proportion  of  tliem  rcmovod  to  Otsonro  county, 
New  York,  us  well  us  to  diilVrent  tt)wns  in  Massachusetts, 
Bucli  as  lYilliani. 

llesidcs  those  Scotch  and  of  Scottisli  ])arenta;j:e  who 
resided  in  Jioston,  enii.:rants  of  the  Freshyterian  ])ersna- 
sioii  api)ear  to  have  eoine  annually  in  these  years  from 
Jreland*  and  Scotland  to  N.-w  l']nj.ian(l;  and  notwithstand- 
in<,' tlie  in-ejuiHecs  with  which  they  had  to  contend,  in  view 
of  the  accid(!nt  of  hirth,  not  a  few  of  them,  as  artisans, 
ohtained  hondsmen,  irave  security  to  the  authorities  that 
they  would  not  lie  disortierly,  and  estahlished  themselves 
in  that  town. 

As  Jh-itish  suhjects  in  a  P>ritish  colony,  they  supposed 
tliemselves  entitled  to  liherty  of  conscii-nce.  This  was, 
liowever,  only  with  trri'at  reluctanc(>,  or  rather  as  a  matter 
of  necessity,  accordi^l  to  tlieni  at  all.  The  overshadowing 
influences  of  "the  Church  of  the  I'arish."  which  had  cast 
no  encoura^inu;  smiles  on  tlie  I'ri'ueh  I'reshyterians,  viewed 
the  collectin<>:  of  an  Irisii  Church  as  an  almost  unwarrant- 
able interference. 

Boston  contained  about  KJ.OOO  inhahitants,  and  had  five 
cliurchcs  of  the  estahlisiied  oider,  when,  a.  n.  1727,  an 
eil'ort  was  commenced  to  collect  a  second  l*res1)yterian 
Church.  This  was  done  hy  Mr.  .h)hn  Moorehead,  a  native 
of  Newton,  near  Belfast.  He  was  hoiMi  of  pious  })arents  in 
17(t'3,  received  the  rudiments  of  his  education  in  In.'land, 
and  linished  liis  collegiate  course  of  study  in  Edinburgh. 


*It  is  stated  by  tlic  Hon.  Win.  Willis  (Mass.  II.  (i.  EoRr.  p.  'J.'^G, 
July,  l.S."),S)  that  "in  171'.»  and  'L'O  Hvi- .sliips  ntider  Captain  Rohort  IVin- 
))!e  landed  several  hinidred  families  on  tlie  shores  of  the  Kennebec;  tliat 
J>innuier's  Indian  war  broke  ii])  the  colony,  and  that  the  larjjier  part  of 
them  went  to  Pennsylvania,  while  some  fragments  of  it  settled  in  Tops- 
liam,  Brnnswiek,  lioothbay,  IV'macpiid  and  the  Waldo  Patent." 

"Sir  Robert  Temple  landed  at  Hoston  in  17'20,  looked  at  Connccticnt, 
went  to  Maine  and  settled  Corlc,  Maine;  bront^ht  over  three  ship-loads 
of  the  children  of  the  Kirk  of  Si-olland,  and  f)lante<l  several  hundreds 
of  t'le  Seoteh  Irish  on  the  Ki'nnebeo  at  'Merry  Meetintr-IIoiise.' 

"  He,  on  the  west  side  of  tlie  Kennebee,  laid  the  foundation  for  Dun- 
bar's (sL'tl lenient)  on  the  east  side  ten  years  afterwards. 

"hi  17122  the  sivajres  destroyed  'Merry  Meeting-Iiouse  settlement.' 
(Sewall's  Maine,  p.  2'M\.)  • 

"Searcitv  of  corn  almost  equal  to  a  famine  drove  many  from  Ulster  in 
1728  and '29."  (Willis.) 


IN   NEW   ENGLAND. 


63 


ounty, 

USL'ttS, 

0  wlio 
)t'rsu;i- 
8  troiii 
istand- 
[\\  vii'vv 
rtii^ans, 
es  thiit 
iiselves 

ipposcd 
lis  wns, 
niatter 
idowinr; 
i;i(l  cast 
,  viewed 
viirrant- 


liad  five 
727,  an 
)ylerian 

'  native 
rents  in 

n.'land, 
nbiir;^h. 


p.  236, 

)ert  Tcm- 

)ec;  tliat 

t>r  part  of 

in  Tops- 


Ill 


nocticnt, 
lip-loads 
hundreds 

for  Dun- 

^>ttlement.' 

Ulster  in 


:ll 


He  was  licensed  to  preach  before  lie  came  to  America. 
Some  families  of  his  ac(iuaintance,  it  is  said,  about  or  before 
that  vear,  canje  over,  and  bein<.'  kindly  wi'lcomed  by  their 
countrymen  tiien  living  in  it,  settled  in  the  idwn.  Upon 
liis  arrival  here,  this  pe()j)lc  (several  of  whom  appear  to 
have  come  with  him)  became  attached  to  him  and  ilesired 
him  to  l)ecome  their  minister.  As  a  licentiate,  he  labored 
.^otne  tin-ee  years  to  collect  them  and  i>re|)are  tiiem  for 
or;:anization'as  a  church,  and  with  this  desi<i;n  he  was,  in 
order  to  l)e  more  successful,  ordained  on  March  3Uth,  173U, 
beibre  a  church  was  oruanized. 

Whether  ids  peoi)le  were  hindered  by  the  civil  ])ower 
(as  the  Frencii  Presbyterians  had  for  above  twelve  yeai*s 
been  prevented)  from  erectinc  a  ))lace  of  worship,  or  not, 
we  are  not  informed.  Tliis  is  hi;j:hly  ])robal)le,  tor  it  is 
a  vi.trorous  tradition  that,  being  Irish,  it  was  j)roposed  that 
they  should  give  bonds  to  the  town  that  any  meeting-house 
whieli  tiiey  might  erect  should  not  l)ecome  Koman  Catiio- 
lie,  and  if  they  had,  in  the  usual  way,  asked  an  Act  of 
Incorporation,  tlie  recpiest  would  of  course  not  have  been 
granted.  Indeed,  it  was  with  dilliculty  that  they  could  as 
Presbyterians  remain  in  the  town  at  all.  Hence  we  have 
such  recorils  as  the  following: 

To  secure  the  good  town  of  Jioston  against  harm  and  los.s 
by  Presbyterians,  tliey  must  indenniify  the  authorities. 
Hence  we  have  entries  as  follows : 

171M.  August  13th.  Town  to  l)e  secured  against  passen- 
gers lately,  August  4th,  arrived  from  Ireland. 

1711).  April  27th,  Geo.  Gliim,  tailor,  from  South  Caro- 
lina, ordered  to  dej)art  the  town. 

Robert  Holmes  and  wif(\  and  Wm.  Holmes  and  children, 
ordered  to  depart  on  tlie  15th  of  April. 

Alexander  McGregory,  from  Ireland,  to  depart. 

1719.  July  25th.  Joan  INIcCuUoch  (widowj,  from  Casco, 
to  depart. 

1719.  June  9th.  Persons  arriving  from  Ireland,  John 
McCannis.  wife  and  cinldren,  John  Henderson,  \\'m.  Mil- 
ler, wives  and  children,  John  Criehton,  Samuel  Severiglit, 
Francis  Ciray,  wife  and  three  children,  were  ordered  to 
de})art  on  June  13th. 

1719.  October  24th.  Several. 

1719.  January  22d.  Many  farmers  from  Ireland,  twcnty- 


ei' '  'I 


:l    I 


W:\ 


i  : 


I 


I' I    , ) 


1) 


I 


I;! 


64 


HISTORY  OF   PRESBYTKRIANISM 


ono  in  nil,  wcrn  on  Novenibor  oOth  last  warned  to  depart; 
also  .John  Walker,  wile  and  tlirco  children. 

Ilavintr,  MS  toivi^riuTS  umlrr  hoiids,  to  rompote  in  tlio 
trades  with  the  natives  and  with  ICn;^lishnien,  these  "op- 
])ressed  brethren  "  were  too  poor  to  ))nreliase  land  and 
erect  a  nieetin^'-house ;  yet  Divine  Trovidenee  raised  up  to 
them  a  IViend. 

A  Mr.  .John  I.ittle,  who  was  a  ^rardenor  and  market  man, 
and  who  app(.'ars  to  have  resided  in  lioston  for  some  time, 
as  he  was  married  there  in  ITIS,  and  whose  dwellin;j;  was 
in  Milk  street,  ])nrchase(l  i!i  May,  172!>,  a  lot  of  land  on 
Lonii;  Lane,  on  which  there  then  stood  a  harn.  Into  this 
*'rude  and  lowly  structure,"  after  some  tinie,  when  his 
dw(  llin<f  would  not  contain  them,  he  invited  his  country- 
men to  enter,  and  worship  that  Saviour  who  was  born  in 
'"a.  stable  and  laid  in  a  nian;j;er," 

From  all  that  is  known  of  his  history,  he  appears  to  have 
liad,  until  late  in  life  and  after  his  second  marriaire,  no 
olfsprini;.  ConscMjuontly,  by  industry  he  was  en;vbled  to 
accumulate  some  ])ropeity.  Althouuh  unable  to  write  his 
own  name,  his  first,  tln-ilty  and  pious  wife,  ]\[ary,  through 
whose  counsel  and  promi)tin<:R  he  was  encouraired  to  create 
a  Trust,  which  should  in  subserviency  to  the  .ijlory  of  God 
and  the  honor  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  per])etuate  his  own 
name  to  comin*?  generations,  was  able  to  write  her  own, 
and  so  far  as  was  necessary  to  keep  his  current  accounts. 
His  business,  as  a  gardener,  kept  him  in  and  near  the 
town,  in  which  he  may  have  been  one  of  the  earliest  Irish 
settlers. 

He  had,  on  the  l-lth  day  of  May,  a.  n.  1729,  bought  of 
Ilcniry  Deering  for  jCooO,  ''in  lawful  ])ublic  bills  of  credit," 
the  aforesaid  lot,  nearly  one-quarter  of  an  acre,  and  about 
one  twenty-four-liundredth  part  of  the  original  site  of  Bos- 
ton. Disposed  to  "honor  the  Lord  with  his  substance" — 
feeling  dee))ly  for  the  best  interests  of  his  then  present  and 
future  resident  countrymen  in  the  town,  and  the  duty  of 
providing  for  his  own  spiritual  welfare  by  enjoying  the 
])ublic  ordinances  of  religion,  he  alterwards  devoted  said 
land  to  religious  use  for  ever.  That  Mr.  Moorchead  was 
ordained  ]\hirch  3()th,  1730,  we  gather  from  two  facts — the 
appointment  by  the  session  of  Londonderry  on  March  2d, 
1730,  of  James  Reed,  ruling  elder,  to  attend  the  Presbytery  | 


¥ 


IN    NEW   ENGLAND. 


65 


epart ; 


in 


tho 
e  "op- 
1(1  iintl 
d  up  to 

ot  nii^n, 
ic  tiiuf, 
\\v^  was 
land  on 
ulo  this 
hen  his 
-ountry- 
born  in 

s  to  have 
riairc,  no 
KvMed  to 
write  his 
,  thronijli 
to  croate 
y  of  (ioil 
J  his  own 
her  own, 
aceonnts. 
near  the 
host  Irish 

l)on!j;ht  of 
ot  credit, 
and  ahout 
itc  of  Bos- 
bstance  "— 
Ircsent  and 
0  duty  of 
Dvini:  the 
v»")ted  paid 
ehead  was 
facts— tlie 
March  2d, 
Presbytery 


at  Boston,  and  tlio  statement  of  Mr.  Moorelicad,  which  he 
Jjas  written  on  his  l{c<j,istry  of  Marriajies  and  Baptisms, 
that  "1  h('}j;aii  to  hapti/c  on  and  after  >hn'('li  .'Jlst,  ITod." 

"This  religious  socii'ty  was  estahhsheil  hy  his  pious  zeal 
and  assiduity."'  It  recjiiired  years  of  lal)or  to  coUeet  the 
scattered  fragine\its,  to  j^alher  together  even  tlie  few  dis- 
persed hretlir*  n  of  tlie  I'reshyterian  faith  then  resi(h>nt  in 
Boston  and  the  neiuid)()ring  towns,  t.'X|iosetI  us  those  had 
heen  who  had  for  any  len^tii  of  time  resicU'd  here  to  the 
iidhienees  of  jnuttiier  eeelesiastieal  <»(>vernnient. 

IV'rseveranee,  under  the  hKssin<4  of  Heaven,  brought 
success,  and  in  a  few  montlis  after  his  or(nnation  lie  had 
the  i)h'asure  of  seeing  u  eliurch  organized.  Having  "sown 
in  tears,  his  reajting  time  ol'.joy  "  n<»w  began,  and  "the  first 
meeting  of  the  i)rethren  with  their  minister,  for  the  election 
of  ruling  elders,  according  to  the  government  of  the  Cliurch 
of  Scotland,  was  held  in  the  house  of  Mr.  John  Little,  in 
Milk  street,  on  the  Mtli  day  of  .Inly.  17;-!().  The  elder.s 
iheii  chosen  were  ,h)hn  ^'oung,  Hohert  I'atton,  Samuel 
McClure,  Uiehard  MeClure  and  Thos.  McMullen."  (Mc- 
Clure's  Sketches,  ISOT.) 

^^'e  have  seen  the  manner  jnirsued  by  the  church  .session 
of  Londonderry  in  a  similar  election,  and  whether  each  of 
th(!  stejis  there  enumerated  was  now  taken  with  these 
brethren  or  not,  we  know  not;  but  they  ''were  (in  due 
time)  ordained,"  and  the  organization  of  the  Second  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  jloston  was  then  com])leted  by  their 
installation.  How  soon  alterwards  a  call  was  made  out 
for  Mr.  ^b)orehead,  on  tlu>  acce))tanee  of  which  he  was 
installed  as  their  i)astor.  we  know  not;  but  it  was  doubtless 
done  at  an  early  day. 

He  had  lahortnl  among  them  with  an  increasingly  nui- 
tual  attachment,  and  the  consummation  of  this  oflicial 
spiritual  relation  would  not  be  unduly  delayed. 

He  was  the  forty-sixth  minister  settled  in  Boston,  and 
"soon  after  his  induction  he  married  Miss  Sarah  Parsons, 
an  English  lady,  who  survived  him  about  one  year."  As 
the  congregation  met  for  the  important  purpose  of  the 
election  of  elders,  when  a  full  meeting  would  be  desirable 
and  almost  certain,  at  the  house  of  Mr.  John  Little,  on 
Milk  street,  it  is  at  least  reasonable  to  suppose  that  they 
met  often,  if  not  statedly,  there  on  the  Sabbath  for  public 


m 


t  Ml 


il! 


66 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIAXISM 


worship,  for  montlis  or  for  years.  Indood,  these  "  Preshy- 
terian  stran;;ers "  luul  no  other  ])la('e  in  which  to  meet, 
until  th(!y  went  to  his  hani.  The  overshadowing  inllu- 
enees  of  "  tiie  C'hureh  of  tlie  I'arish."  ■■;  we  have  seen  in  the 
case  of  the  Preshytcrian  Cimrcl  )reester,  and  in  the 

inii)edini('nts  east  in  the  way  of  Vi..  ^  .ench  Churcii  in  the 
same  jtarisii  in  F)Oston,  when  endeavorinti  resjx  etively  to 
su|)i)ly  themselves  with  phices  of  worshi)),  wonhl  ailord  to 
these  ''  oppressed  Irish  l>retiiren  ''  hut  little  eneourajiement, 
Avhen  they  desired  to  find  "a  place  of  hal)itation  for  the 
mighty  (lod  of  Jacoh."  Their  ease,  in  view  of  the  aspect 
of  colonial  law  and  its  tljeocracv  towards  them,  could  not 
have  heen  Mattering.  C'onse(]Uently  the  inconvenience  of 
a  dwelling;,  or  the  associations  of  a  harnyard,  were  hy  them 
readily  home,  in  order  that  they  miiiht  "sini:  the  .A7/o/7///'.s' 
Bong  in  a  foreit^n  land"  (Ps.  cxxxvii.  4),  and  perjietuate 
those  principles  which  had  descended  to  them  sealed  hy 
the  l)lood  of  a  martyred  ancestry. 

As  "  a  man's  house  is  "  said  to  be  "  his  castle,"  so  John 
Little,  with  his  faithful  wife,  a|)|)ears  to  iiave  projected  the 
idea  of  turninii  his  harn  into  a  meetin;:-house. 

By  makin<^  it  a  trust  with  a  eharitahle  use,  for  Presby- 
terians to  hold  and  enjoy  forever,  he,  as  a  Pritish  subject, 
■with  his  counsel,  supi)osed  that  they  could  avoid  troubling 
the  selectmen  or  the  j^eneral  court.  Trusts  for  the  wor- 
ship of  (lod,  for  education  and  tiie  aid  of  the  poor,  they 
BU))posed  to  be  sacred  throULdiout  tlu'  British  empire. 

At  what  time  he  heyan  to  ''  convert"  his  "  barn  "  into  a 
meetin<r-house  does  not  appear,  but  it  was  obviously  after 
the  14th  (lav  of  July,  17<iO,  when  the  work  of  church  or- 
ganization was  in  projiress.  Previously  to  the  election  and 
ordination  of  Kulinu'  Elders,  there  would  be  no  stroni; 
probability  that  a  house  of  worshij)  would  he  recpiired. 
lie  had  owned  the  land  from  the  14th  day  of  May,  17lii>, 
and  probably  he  soon  after  the  14th  of  July,  173U,  began 
to  "transform  "  his  barn. 

Some  months  afterwards,  these  people  had  a  buildini,' 
separated  from  former  uses  to  the  worshij)  of  (Jod,  and 
liow  delightful  to  them  must  have  i>een  their  "  little  sanc- 
tuary!" According  to  the  autobioiiraphy  of  the  Ivev.  Dr. 
David  McClure,  who  was  one  of  Mr.  Moorehead's  j)Uj)ils, 
"This  little  colony  of  Christians  for  some  time  carried  on 


IN    NKW   KXCiLAND. 


67 


ini'C't, 
inlUi- 
i\i  iho 
in  tho 
in  tho 
;(ly  to 
lord  to 
I'liR-nt, 
for  tlio 
uspoot 
lid  not 
■nee  ol' 
y  tlu'ni 

|)ctu;itu 
lied  by 

;o  John 
;tt'd  the 

Prosby- 

subjcct, 

ultlinjj; 

le  NVi>i'- 

or,  they 

re. 

"  into  :i 
dy  after 
urch  or- 
ion  and 
)  stron!^ 
('(luired. 
y,  172'.>, 
l),  begun 

)uildin'^ 
od,  and 
lie  sanc- 
Uev.  i)r. 
j)U})ils, 
rried  on 


o 


worship  in  a  ])arn,  and  as  tlie  conp;re<j:ation  increased  by 
eniij^raiits  from  ?5eotland  and  Irclantl,  tliey  added  to  it 
two  \vin<;s/' 

In  preparin;^  the  bnildiiii,'  for  this  nse,  he  eri'oted  for 
liiinsrlf,  in  eonnnon  with  tlie  others,  a  "pew  and  scat," 
and  as  tlie  con<;re«,Mtion  ;j:athered  stren<5th,  they  iii)j)()inted 
"aconnnittee  for  nianaizinii:  the  ))rudential  atVairs  tiiereof." 
After  years  (tf  ownership  lie  ollered  the  premises  wholly 
to  them  on  certain  conditions.  In  this  attemjtt  nnanimity 
was  eventnally  lost  between  the  donor  and  the  innnediate 
beneticiarics.  Part  of  the  history  of  this  strife  is  ascer- 
tained by  verbal  statement  and  part  is  on  record.  As  to 
the  Ibrmcr,  the  writer  was  informed  in  a.  d.  1S41),  by  Mr.s. 
I.  Cossington,  a  j:randdauuliter  of  the  liev.  John  Moore- 
head,  and  who  was  above  fifty  velars  of  a<j;e  when  her 
mother,  Mrs.  A<:ncs  Wilson,  deceased,  who  was  thirty- 
seven  years  of  age  when  her  lather  died,  that  it  was  tho 
unvarying  account  of  the  church  estate  founded  by  Mr. 
Little,  that  "he  would  give  to  them  his  lot  of  land  forever, 
if  they  would  pay  him  for  his  work  on  his  meeting-house, 
and  keep  a  meeting-house  on  the  land,  and  keep  a  scat  or 
pew  in  it  for  his  heirs  forever,"  ami  that  the  congregation 
all  agreed  to  do  this. 

They,  however,  soon  dilVcrcd  as  to  the  amount  of  pay- 
ment which  he  should  receive,  and  in  less  than  four  year.s 
after  the  ordination  and  settlement  of  their  pastor,  "sun- 
dry disputes  and'diflerences  arose  between  "  them. 

Little  not  only  owned  the  land  and  the  house,  'lit  lio 
also  controlled  "the  outstanding  debts  due  by  the  said 
congregation."  Instead  of  attempting  to  compel  him  by 
a  suit  in  civil  law,  to  deliver  U|)  their  "  outstanding  debts," 
as  they  would,  in  all  probability,  have  done,  if  he  wero 
only  their  agent  or  factor,  they  asked  him  to  subnnt  their 
''disputes  and  diflerences  "  to  peaceful  arbitration,  and  in 
order  to  this,  they  "signified  their  mutual  consent  by 
their  several  obligations,  called  bands  ol"  submission."  liy 
this  ])rocess  concord  was  soon  re-established,  The  award 
was  made  by  persons  wdiose  names  indicate  that  they 
belonged  to  the  French  Cliurch  of  the  town,  and  was  as 
follows  • 


;-|H 


I  (M 


I, 


i! 


i  i : ' 


11 


1 

(' 

\ 

••k 


68 


HISTORY   OF    PKESBYTERIAMSM 


Awai'd  nf  Jacob  Shcafc^  Stephen  Bnnlincau^and  Hugh  Va7is. 

To  all  ])oo]>le  unto  whom  this  ])res(*nt  writinjr  of  award 
shall  ('OHIO,  Jac(>l)  Shoafc,  (n-ntlciiiaii,  Stephen  Boutincau 
and  IIujzli  Vans,  Merchants,  all  of  Boston,  in  the  county 
of  Suffolk,  and  province  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  in 
New  England,  send  greeting: 

Whereas,  upon  sundry  disputes  and  differences  arisen 
between  John  Little,  of  Boston  aforesaid,  Gardner,  on  the 
one  part,  and  Cieorge  Glen,  Taylor  ;  Edward  Allen,  Taylor  ; 
Andrew  Knox,  Mariner;  (Jeorge  Southerland,  Shopkeeper; 
William  JIall,  Leather-dresser;  Daniel  Macneal,  Laborer* 
Samuel  Miller,  Gunsmith;  Abraham  All,  Taylor;  and 
William  Shaw,  Taylor,  all  of  Boston  aforesaid,  of  the  other 
part,  they  the  said  partys  for  the  determination  thereof 
and  by  their  mutual  consents  signifyed  by  their  several 
obligations,  dated  the  fourteenth  day  of  Jaimary,  Anno 
Domini,  1735,  appoint  us,  the  said  Jacob  Shoai'e  and  Ste- 
phen Boutineau,  arbitrators  of  all  their  diilerences  till  that 
time,  and  agreed  that  either  of  us,  in  case  of  our  non-agree- 
ment, should  choose  a  third  person — and  we  being  willing 
and  desirous  to  determine  the  disputes  and  differences 
between  said  partys,  in  order  to  effect  the  same,  havo 
chosen  the  said  Hugh  Vans  to  assist  us  therein.  And  the 
said  partys  by  the  said  ol)ligations  further  agreed,  that  we, 
making  up  our  award  of  the  sanu?  under  our  hands  and 
seals,  ready  to  be  delivered  to  the  said  partys,  on  or  before 
the  fifteenth  day  of  A])ril  current,  should  finally  determine 
the  premises  as  by  their  several  obligations,  with  condi- 
tions for  the  performance  thereof,  will  more  fully  appear. 
Now  in  pursuance  of  the  said  submission  and  to  answer 
the  end  proj)osed  therel)y,  we,  the  saide  Jacob  Sheafe,  Ste- 
phen lioutineau  and  Hugh  Vans  accept  of  the  burthen  of 
the  said  award,  and  having  fully  heard  both  i)artys, 
])erused,  examined  and  deliberately  considered  on  all 
oapers,  matters  and  things  disclosed  or  jjretended  to  us 
oy  either  party  as  the  cause  of  their  variance,  do  make, 
])ul)lish  and  declare  this  our  award  between  them  con- 
cerning the  j)remises,  in  manner  following,  that  is  to  say : 
— Imprimis,  we  award  and  order  that  the  said  George 
Glen.  Edward  Allen^  Andrew  Knox,  George  Southerland, 


IN  NEW   ENGLAND. 


69 


'I 


William  TTall.  Daniol  Macnoal,  Samuel  ]\rillcr.  Abraham 
All  and  W'illiani  Sliaw  siiall,  witliin  the  s])a(.'('  of  two 
months  I'roiii  the  date  liereot",  pay  or  cause  to  lie  ])aid  unto 
the  said  Joim  Little  tiie  sum  of  one  hundred  and  forty 
jtounds  and  five  pence,  in  Publiek  Wilh  of  Credit,  ■\vhicli 
is  and  shall  i»e  in  full  of  the  claimes  and  demands  which 
the  said  John  Little  had  a^'ainst  ye  conj^rej^ation  hclont,'- 
injz  to  the  Presbyterian  meetinij-ho'use  in  Long  Lane,  in 
Boston  aforesaid,  with  respect  to  his  attendance  upon  and 
lookinn  after  the  building  of  ye  sd  meeting-house,  and  all 
his  accounts  of  charixes  and  disbursements  al)out  the  same, 
and  the  land  whereon  it  stands,  as  also  touchinf:f  and  con- 
cerriin<r  th(i  said  I^ittle's  purchase  of  the  said  land  of 
IL'in-y  DeeriniX,  Kscp,  ut  the  time  of  entering  into  the  said 
Bands  of  sul)mission. 

Item.  We  award  and  order  that,  upon  ye  jiayment  of 
ye  sd  sum,  the  said  John  Little  shall  make  and  execute  in 
due  form  of  law,  imto  the  said  contire^'ation,  a  irood  Law- 
ful Deed  of  Conveyance  of  the  Land  whereon  ye  sd  meet- 
iufi-house  stands  and  is  thereunto  appertainin<r,  with  the 
])rivaledges  and  ai)purtenanccs  thereunto  beloniring,  which 
the  said  Little  bought  and  j)urchased  of  the  said  Deerinj; 
as  aforesaid,  To  Hold  the  same  unto  the  said  congregation 
according  to  3'e  Tenures  and  after  the  same  manner  as  the 
Cliurch  of  Scotland  hold  and  Enjoy  the  Lands  whereon 
their  meeting-houses  are  Erected. 

Item.  We  agree  and  tletermine  and  do  hereby  ascertain 
the  Right  and  Interest  which  the  sd  John  Little  hath  in 
the  said  meeting-house  to  be  the  pew  and  seat  therein 
now  in  his  possession,  which  is  to  remain  good  to  him 
forever,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  rest  of  the  proprietors 
in  the  said  meeting  do  liold  and  enjoy  tlu-ir  respective 
Rights  and  Interests  therein. 

Item.  We  award  and  order  that  the  said  John  Litth; 
shall  assign  Transfers  and  make  over  unto  the  said  (Jeorgo 
(den,  Edward  Allen,  Amlrew  Knox,  George  Southerland, 
\\'illiam  Hall,  Daniel  Macneal,  Samuel  Sliller,  Abraham 
All  and  William  Shaw,  as  they  are  a  committee  chosen 
and  appointetl  by  the  said  (Congregation  for  managing  the 
prudential  affairs  thereof,  the  outstanding  debts  due  to 
the  said  congregation  amounting,  as  by  account  ap|)ear8, 
to  the  sum  of  tifty-fbur  pounds  five  shillings,  and  shall  in- 


Via 


70 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


,!  mm 


vest  them  with  all  the  power  he  ye  said  Little  is  possessed 
()i\  in  onlrr  to  recover  the  same  for  the  use  of  the  said 
c()n<irejj;ati()n. 

Lastly.  We  award  and  order  that  the  charrre  of  this  ar- 
hitration  shall  be  l)orne  and  sustained  by  the  said  Partys 
(iliare  and  share  alike.  In  Witness  whereof  we  have  here- 
luito  set  our  hands  and  seals,  the  ninth  day  of  April,  Anno 
Domini,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  thirty-five. 
Jac'ol)  Sheafe,  and  a  seal;  Stephen  Jioutinuau,  and  a  seal ; 
IIujj;h  Vans,  and  a  seal.  Si<rned,  sealed  and  delivered  in 
ve  presence  of  ( liy  tlie  said  Stephen  Jioutineau,  and  lluixh 
Vans)  Daniel  Marsh.  And  by  the  said  Jacob  Sheafe  in 
the  presence  of  us  Daniel  Marsii,  Anth.  Woulfe. 

These  two  months  soon  passed,  and  as  the  dervish  in  the 
desert,  who  from  time  to  time  found  his  spring  of  living 
water  rendered  nearly  valu(>less  for  a  season  by  the  feet  of 
the  camels  of  the  pilgrims,  in  order  to  do  good  to  himself 
and  to  future  generations,  surrounded  it  with  a  sale  stone 
curb,  so  that  tiie  thirsty  might  drink  and  thank  their 
benefactor  while  he  lived  and  l)less  his  memory  after  his 
death — so  John  Little,  on  the  Dth  day  of  June,  A.  i).  IToo, 
devoted  a  lot  of  his  land,  for  he  had  other  lots  in  town,  to 
the  worship  and  glory  of  God  and  to  the  welfare  of  men,  in 
connection  with  a  si)eciried  and  definite  "  form  of  sound 
words"  indx'dded  in  the  affeetions  of  Presbyterians,  and 
sealed  by  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  of  his  native  realm. 

His  deed  reads  thus : 

"This  indenture,  made  the  ninth  day  of  June,  Anno 
Domini,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  thirty-five,  and 
in  the  eighth  year  of  the  Keign  of  our  Sovereign  Lord 
CJeorge  the  Second,  by  the  (Jrace  of  (iod,  of  Crreat  Britain, 
France  and  Ireland,  King,  Defender  of  the  Faith,  tV'c. : 
Between  John  Little  of  Boston,  in  the  County  of  Suffolk 
and  Province  of  the  Massaeliusetts  Bay,  in  New  England, 
(Jardner,  on  the  one  part,  and  (Jeorge  (Jlen,  Tailor,  William 
Hall,  Leather  Dresser,  and  William  Siiaw,  Tailor,  all  of 
Bostci:  albrcsaid,  and  Andrew  Knox,  of  said  Boston, 
Marini;.,  for  themselves,  and  as  a  Connnittee  chosen  and 
api)ointed  by  the  rest  of  the  Congregation  belonging  to  the 
Presbyterian  Meeting  House,  in  Long   Lane,  in  Boston 


'M 


4 
■yt 

I 


IN    NEW    ENGLAND. 


71 


aforesaid,  for  mfinnGjinp;  the  PriKlential  Affairs  thereof,  on 
the  other  part  witnkssJ'-.th  : — 

"  Tliat  the  said  .h»iin  Little,  for  and  in  consideration  of 
the  sum  One  llun(h-ed  and  Forty  Pounds  and  five  jK'ncc, 
in  u'ood  puhlick  l)ills  of  credit  of  the  Province  aforesaid,  to 
liitn  in  Fland,  at  and  before  the  ensealing  and  delivery  of 
these  Presents,  well  and  truly  paid  by  the  said  George 
( JU'n,  William  Hall,  William  Shaw  and  Andrew  Knox,  in 
behalf  of  themselves  and  as  a  Connnittee  chosen  as  afore- 
said, the  recei])t  whereof  the  said  Jolm  Little  doth  hereby 
acknowledge,  and  thiM-eof  doth  ac(iuit.  and  discharge  the 
said  (ieorL''e  (Jlen,  William  ILill,  William  Shaw  and 
Andrew  Knox,  in  behalf  of  themselves,  and  in  their 
ca))acity  aforesaid,  and  their  successors  in  said  trust,  and 
each  every  of  them  forever  by  these  Presents,  hath  given, 
granted,  bargained,  sold,  aliened,  enfeoffed,  released,  con- 
veyed and  confirmed,  and  by  these  Presents  doth  give, 
grant,  l^argain,  sell,  alien,  enfeoffe,  release,  convey  and  con- 
firm, unto  the  said  George  (ilen,  William  Hall,  William 
Shaw  and  Andrew  Knox,  a  certain  Piece  or  Parcel  of  Land, 
situate,  lying,  and  being  in  lioston  aforesaid,  and  is 
bounded  in  the  Front  Westerly  U])on  TiOng  Lane,  so  called, 
there  measures  one  hundred  and  twenty-nine  feet;  North- 
erly by  land  of  Mr.  Jonathan  Loring,  and  there  measures 
ninety -eight  feet;  Easterly  by  land  of  Nathanael  Green, 
Es<i.,  and  there  measures  one  hundred  and  fifteen  feet; 
Southerly  by  liury  Street,  so  called,  and  there  measures 
one  hundred  and  twenty-six  feet  and  an  half  foot ;  or,  how- 
ever otherwise  butted  and  bounded,  or  be  the  dimentions 
on  either  side,  more  or  less.  Also,  the  Meeting  House  on 
the  said  land  standing.  Together  with  all  and  Singular,  the 
rights,  members,  profits,  priviledges,  fences,  improvements, 
and  ap])urtenances,  whatsoever  to  the  said  granted  and 
bargained  piece  or  parcel  of  Land,  and  Meeting  House,  be- 
longing, or  in  any  wise  appertaining,  or  therewith  now 
nsed,  occupied  or  enjoyed.  Also,  all  the  Estate,  Right, 
Title,  Literest,  Inheritance,  Use,  Possession,  Property, 
Claim  and  Demand  whatsoever,  of  him  the  said  John  Lit- 
tle, of,  in  and  to  the  .said  granted  and  bargained  Premises, 
and  every  Part  and  Parcel  thereof,  with  the  a])purtenances: 
and  the  Reversion  and  Reversions,  Remainder  and  Re- 
mainders thereof,  saving  and  always  reserving  to  the  said 


:i 


j 
i 

i 

' 

'.1 

{ 

i 

} 

\- 

{ 

'  ■  ( 

i 

»  ' 


:'1 


. 


11  "1'    "FT" 


72 


mSTOUY   OF   PRKSBYTKKIANISM 


John  liittle,  his  heirs  and  assigns  forcvor,  the  "Rijzht  and 
Interest  which  the  said  John  Little  hath  in  the  s;iid  Meet- 
ing; House  and  Land,  to  wit:  the  IVw  and  seat  therein 
now  in  his  possession,  which  is  to  remain  fj;ood  to  liini,  liis 
Heirs  and  Assigns  forever  in  the  same  m;nmer  as  the  rest 
of  the  Proprietors  in  the  said  Meetin<r  House  do  hold  and 
enjoy  their  respective  riirhts  and  interests  therein,  which 
rijilit  and  interest  hy  a  certain  Listrumcnt  of  award  made 
))y  Jacob  Sheaf,  Gentleman,  and  Stepjien  ]V)Utinc;iu  and 
Hugh  Vans,  >h'rchants,  all  of  Boston  aforesaid,  Ix'tweeu 
tli«.'  said  John  Little  on  the  one  ])art,  and  the  said  (jeoriro 
(Jlen,  William  Hall,  William  Shaw  and  others,  a  Connnit- 
tee,  chosen  for  the  purposes  aforesnid,  on  the  other  ]>art; 
l)earing  date  the  ninth  day  of  April,  <»ne  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  thirty-live,  was  ascert;iined  to  the  said  John 
Little,  as  by  the  said  Award,  reference  thereto  being  had, 
may  more  at  large  apjx'ar. 

"  To  HAVK  AM)  TO  uoi.i)  the  said  ])iece  or  parcel  of  T^and, 
Meeting  House,  and  Premises  with  the  aj)j)urtenances 
(saving  and  reserving  as  aforesaid ),  unto  the  said  (ieorgo 
Glen,  William  Shaw  and  William  Hall  and  Andrew  Knox, 
in  their  capacity  aforesaid,  and  to  their  successors  in  that 
Trust  and  oflice  forever,  but  to  and  lor  the  only  ])roper  use, 
benefit  and  behoof  of  the  said  Congregation  (according  to 
the  Tenures  and  after  the  s^ame  mann(>r  as  the  Church  of 
Scotland  hold  and  enjoy  the  Lands  whereon  the  Meeting 
Houses  are  erected),  forever,  and  for  no  other  use,  intent  or 
purpose  whatsoever;  with  Warranty  against  him  the  said 
John  Little,  and  his  iieirs,  and  all  and  every  other  Person 
and  Persons,  whatsoever,  from,  by  (jr  under  him  or  them. 
Together  with  the  IJenelit  of  a  Warranty  in  a  certain  Dec.'d 
mentioned  from  Theodore  Atkinson,  (Jentlcman,  as  the 
afore-named  Nathanael  (ir(H!n,  ])urchased  tlie  same  as  in 
and  by  the  said  deed,  bi'aring  date  the  twentieth  day  of 
November,  1723,  of  Record  in  the  Registry  of  Deeds,  for  tho 
County  of  Sutlblk,  may  a])pear,  which  granted  Land  and 
Premises,  with  the  ai)purtenances  before  th(>  said  Meeting 
House  was  thereon  erected,  the  said  John  Little  purchased 
of  Henry  Deering,  Es<ir. 

''In  Witness  whereof,  T,  the  said  John  Little,  and  ^lary 
his  wife  (in  toktni  of  her  free  consent  to  these  Presents  and 
Release  of  her  Right  and  Title  of  Dower,  and  Thirds  of,  in 


1 
■A 

1 


I 


11 


:;•: 


l:il^ 


m 


IN    NEW  ENGLAND. 


78 


and  nnto  tlio  afiire-L'rantcfl  and  harijaincfl  PromiPOia,  with 
the  apjiui'tcniuuM's  I,  1iav(>  licrcunto  set  their  liands  and 
srals.  tilt'  Day  and  Year  lirst  aforcwritti'n.  John  X  Little, 
his  mark  and  a  seal;  Mary  Little  an<l  a  seal.  Sitnied, 
seah'd  and  deh veiled  in  presence ot' William  Morto.  John  Sale. 
I'eccived  on  the  day  ot"  the  date  of  tin;  aloi'ewritten  Deed, 
o\'  the  at'orenanied  Cleorue  (ilen,  William  Hall,  and  William 
Shaw  and  Andrew  Knox,  Connnitteo  as  aforesaid,  tho  sum 
of  One  Hundred  and  Forty  Pounds  and  five  pence.  I»eini^ 
the  Consideiation  Money  aforementioned.  John  X  Little, 
his  niiirk.  Sullolk.  SS.  —  Uoston,  June  'Jth.  17')'').  Tho 
al'oreiiame(l  John  Little,  and  Mary  his  wife,  pi-rsonally  ap- 
jiearin^',  aeknowletlnt'd  the  aforewritten  Instrument  hy 
them  executed  to  he  their  act  and  Deed,  iiefore  me, 
JosiiiA  Wi.Nsi.ow.  Justieo  of  the  I'eaee,  June  ID,  173"). 
Received,  and  accordingly  J'^ntered  and  Kxaiuined 

"  Per  Samiki.  (Jkhiush,  7iV///.s7rr. 

"A  True  Copy  from  the  Ivccords  of  Deeils  lor  the  County 
of  Sullolk,  Lilj.ol,  folio  14. 

'*  (Attest)  Henry  Alline,  Register.''^ 

Thus,  not  only  was  harmony  re-cstahlished,  hut  a  com- 
})a('t  of  the  most  solenm  nature  known  in  the  alienation, 
conveyance  and  )»ossession  of  landed  property  on  earth 
was  made  i  upon,  or  at  lea.^^t)  relating'  to,  this  estate.  A 
trust  was  on  that  day  hy  him  created,  and  hy  the  "pru- 
dential committei!  "  aci-epted  for  the  heneliciaries,  which 
they  mutually  designed  to  have  per])etuated  while  British 
civilization  should  continue  (or  he  succeeded  hv  its 
e»iuivalent)  uiK)n  this  soil. 

From  that  day  forward,  "the  said  jiremises  formed  a 
species  oi'  property,  whi<Ji  is  not  the  suhject  of  any  ex- 
clianiieahle  or  marki-tahh;  value."  'See  corj)orate  oath 
of  the  trustees  of  the  occupants  in  18-')-l.) 

This  chueh,  unfettered  hy  j)ew  patronafi;e,  entitled  to 
the  inununities  of  trusts  under  the  Britisii  constitution, 
free  from  the  o\ersliadowinir  influences  of  the  ";j:reat  and 
jicneral  court "'  of  tlu;  colony — haviuir  a  faithful  ])astor  and 
at  times,  twelve  diligent  ruling  elders,  now  started  on  a 
career  of  prosj)erity. 

\\'hen  "'the  (^mviM'ted  l)arn "  hecame  too  strait  for 
them,  "they  added  to  it  two  wings,"  and  in  less  than  six 


n. 


I  ' 


1  -^ 

!  ;i 


1  ;  j 


i 

i  ? 


'Hflfir 


7-1 


HISTOUY   OF   rUESBYTKUIANISM 


years  a  muoh  larger  lionsi;  was  required,  Avhich  was  erected 
and  occupied  in  a.  n.  1742. 

Of  this  man,  who  {lavc  of  liis  Co')')  in  "  puhlic  bills  of 
credit,"  at  least,  .£4(M).  Ills.  7(/.,  fur  the  cause  of  Christ,  it 
may  not  bo  without  interest  to  give  a  more  extended  no- 
tice. 

In  dii-jposition,  he  was  sociable,  charitable,  and  unusually 
libera!. 

When  "on  March  I7th,  17''J7,  twonty-six  ,c;entlemen  of 
the  Irish  nation,"  resident  in  Hoston,  formed '*  the  Irish 
CJKiritalde  .Society  "  of  that  t(»wn,  his  name  is  the  twentieth 
on  the  list.  With  htm  were  (ieorge  Glen  and  Andrew 
Knox,  while  in  17'>7,  Win.  Ilall  was  i*resident. 

In  his  will,  which  was  made  July  'ioth,  and  probated 
September  1st,  1741,  after  provision  for  the  payment  of 
all  his  debts,  the  allotment  of  one-third  of  his  real  estate 
to  his  wife,  a  small  sum  to  his  father,  to  his  brotliers,  sis- 
ters and  mother-ill-law,  he  gave  two  j)onnds  to  Charles,  son 
of  Peter  Pelham,  schoolmaster,  for  the  friendship  received 
from  his  father  and  family — and  the  rest  of  his  estate,  real 
and  personal,  to  his  two  sons,  his  dear  children,  John  and 
Moses,  in  efjual  ])ortions — and  if  they  should  both  die 
before  thev  should  marrv,  or  arrive  at  twenty-one  vears 
of  age — "Then,  I  give  all  my  real  and  personal  estate  and 
profits  thereof  remaining,  to  th(?  overseers  of  the  poor  of 
Boston  forever — for  the  following  ])urp()ses,  and  no  other 
use  whatsoever,  viz.:  to  improve  the  same  to  the  best  ad- 
vantage, and  of  the  annual  jirofits  to  employ  some  able 
and  proper  person  from  time  to  tiinc^  forever,  as  a  school- 
master, to  teach  ])()or  Protestant  children  whose  parents 
are  of  the  kingdom  of  Irtdand,  and  inhabitants  of  Boston, 
m  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic,  and  j)ay  hiin  a  proper 
sum  ft)r  the  same.  To  provide  for  such  (Oiildren  books 
and  utensils,  with  a  Psalter,  Testament  and  Bible  to  each 
of  them. 

"  None  to  be  admitted  to  this  charity,  but  such  as  are 
propt'rly  recommended  and  seven  years  old,  and  to  leave 
at  fourteen  years  of  aj^e.  '  Their  number  to  be  regulateil 
by  said  overseers  and  directors  f«)rever.' " 

He  did  not  with  this  charity,  as  he  did  with  the  trust 
created  on  June  9th,  a.  d.  1785,  for  a  vastly  higher  purpose, 
put  it  beyond  the  contingencies  of  human  life;  yet  it 


mnnif(st?  a  kind, 


111:111,   Wll 


COIllirctinll 


75 

ristinn  spirit  in  tlio 
ilc  it  ?;li('\vs  us,  to  sonic  extent,  the  inseparahli! 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 

jTonprous,  and 


bet 


ween 


true    l*res))vterianisin    and    the  dif- 


l"usiit;i  of  elementary  edueaiion. 

W'hetiier  either  of  his  sons  eaiiie  to  nianliood  or  niar- 
rie<l  is  now  unknown. 

IIo  had  by  this  date,  Auiiust,  1741,  not  only  "served  liis 
generation  hy  the  will  (>f  (Jod  ; ''  hut  had  created  a  trust, 
(lesi<:ned,  if  not  j)ervert"d,  to  subserve  tiie  glory  of  Jeho- 
vah, tlie  honor  of  Christ,  and  the  welfare  of  true  J'resby- 
terians  forever — and  "  he  being  dead  yet  sjieaketh,"  and 
serves  vM'h  succeeding  generation,  so  that  out;  hundred 
and  forty-six  years  have  not  yet  erased  his  name  from  tlie 
list  of  I'iiristian  benefactors."' 

A  (juarter  ol"  a  century  had  not  given  these  '' o}>prosse(l 
Irish  I'resbyterian  bicthren  "'  civil  and  social  free<loni  yet, 
as  we  see  by  the  record  of  such  examples  of  indeninitica- 
tion  as  the  following. 

172S.  Marcii  oth.  Kobt.  (lardner,  from  Scotland,  on  in- 
demnifying in  the  sum  of  .£l(M),  was  adniitted   to  open 


lUsme 


as  a  wiirnial<er, 


1741,  April  loth.  Matthew  Campbell,  from  Xutfield, 
(Derry,  N.  II.,)  obtained  leave  to  open  a  tol)acco  shop. 
W'ui.  More  and  Ikj  to  give  bonds  for  tJoO  indemnity  for 
five  years. 

1741,  April  22(1.  Andrew  Craigie  and  family  admitted 
for  five  years  for  .i'loo. 

1741.  April  2Uth.  McCregor  and  wif(>  and  two  children, 
from  Drunswick,  "to  be  here  next  Wt'dnesday." 

1741,  -lune  24th.  Robt.  Henry  indemnities  tor  five  years 
as  a  blacksmith  for  i!l(JO.  Green  and  Walker  were  his 
bondsmen. 

We  now  chronologically  return  for  a  tinui  to  the  church 
of  Londonderry,  in  view  espi-cially  of  its  early  loss  of 
its  beloved  friend  and  pastv)r,  while,  at  the  same  time  wo 
look  at  the  ecclesiastieul  usaLres  of  this  people,  in  common 
with  all  scriptural  I'resbyti'rians.  in  some  of  their  di.s- 
criminating  features,  as  tli-sliiict  from  Prelacy  and  Congre- 
gationalism 


In  d< 


Mr.  Parker 


)ing  this,  I  again  (|Uote  extensively  from  the  Rev, 


u 


The  text  from  which  the  Rev.  Mr.  McGregor  preached, 


i 


1 


■  I 


;  I 


,'t 
hi 


; 


1 


{  t 


'G 


HISTORY    OF    PRElsnYTKUIANIPM 


W'hon  lio  look  tlio  ])nstf)ral  rare  of  the  infant  cliiiroh  in 
Londonderry,  tlicn  literally  in  the  wilderness,  was  Kz. 
XXX vii.  'J('>. 

"This  promise  as  a))]>lied  to  this  band  of  oinijirants, 
has  been  strikingly  fuliilled,  in  the  permanency,  onlarjro 
nient  and  prosj)erity  of  the  settlement,  then  devontly 
eonnneneiMl.  It  has  l>een  shewn,  that  the  leadinir  motive 
of  these  colonists  in  comini^  to  this  country  was  the  more 
full  and  free  enjoyment  of  reli^'ious  ])rivile,L'es. 

"Like  the  I'ilirrims,  they  S()Uii,ht  a  home  and  a  place, 
with  '  frcfMlom  to  worship  (Jod.'  The  Londonderry  emi- 
gration, in  171'^,  so  called  (as  they  mostly  i-ame  from  that 
citv  and  its  vicinity,)  included  four  I'resbvterian  nunisters. 
Of  thes(>,  Mc(ire;ior  was  chosen  pastor.  The  records  of 
the  church  commence  .June  27th,  l7-'"i.  The  first  session 
w;is  comi)osed  of  ten  ruling  elders,  and  one  was  added 
in  172()."  The  following  extracts  from  their  records  may 
shew  how  they  "took  heed  to  the  Hock  over  whi(;h  the  Holy 
Crhost  had  made  them  overseers.  The  first  case  presented 
was  the  report  that  James  Doake  had  quarrelled  with  his 
father  and  had  beaten  liim.  *  The  session  came  to  the 
conclusion:  that  after  a  great  deal  of  pains  taken,  they 
cannot  find  it  proven,  that  James  Doake  did  beat. his  father, 
yet  the  session  agreeth  that  James  l)t)ake should  l»erel.)uked 
before  them,  for  giving  his  father  the  lie,  and  to  be  ex- 
horted to  respect  and  honor  his  parents  in  words  and  ac- 
tions." 

The  next  case  of  discii)line  was  a  charge  brought  by 
John  Archibald  against  James  Moor,  for  using  unjustifia- 
ble expressions  of  a  ])rofane  character,  which  Moor  denied  ; 
yet  he  was  (,'xhorted  by  the  session  to  be  watchful  and 
more  circumspect  for  the  future. 

A  trait  of  character  which  distinguished  this  jicople 
was  a  generous  sympathy  for  their  friends  in  aflliction,and 
a  readiness  to  tender  relief,  llenci'  we  find,  that  at  the 
early  jjeriod  of  17-5,  tlie  session  ordered  two  i)ublic  col- 
lections on  Sabbath.  One  was  to  aid  a  Mr.  James  Clarke, 
residing  in  Rutland,  Massachusetts,  to  ransom  his  son 
taken  l)y  tlu;  Indians;  the  collection,  straitened  as  were 
their  circumstances  at  the  time,  amounted  to  five  pounds. 
The  other  was  for  the  relief  of  William  Moor,  who  had 
two  cows  killed  by  the  falling  of  a  tree ;  three  pounds  and 


IN    NKW    KNfiLAND. 


77 


ninotoon  sliillinprs  woro  roroived.  It  is  most  evident  from 
these  uneient  reeonls.  that,  whatever  iniperteetioiis  ap- 
))e;irt(l  in  the  ehar.icti  r  ot"  the  ]ie(i]ih\  the  ehh'rs  did  not 
sillier  sin  to  i»ass  unicpvnved.  Ini)turity  ofspeceh  oraet; 
the  circulation  of  slanilerous  rej)orts,  dishonesty,  or, 
ne^rlect  of  social  rrli;_dous  duties,  were  suhjects  of  promjjt 
and  faithful  dis('i|iliiu'. 

Thev  wen-  pure  I'rtshyterians,  and  no  jteopjowcrc  more 
distinjiuishcd  for  stuind  Christian  doctrine  and  order,  or 
for  a  more  strict  and  iiillexihle  code  of  morals. 

On  March  •')th,  IT"-".*,  the  conurciration  experienced  a 
heavy  loss  in  the  di"Uh  of  the  lltv.  Mr,  Me(Jrc^M»r.  lie 
died  at  the  a<ie  of  iiity-two.  llal)ituat<'d  to  liardships  and 
self-denial,  he  was  well  prt'pared  to  share  with  his  people 
the  toils,  (lanirers  and  >acritice  of  ease  and  comfort  ever 
attendant  upon  a  new  settlement.  Jt  was  the  custom  at 
that  day,  and  for  thirty  years  afterwards,  for  all  "ahle- 
hodied  men  "  to  ^o  to  chm-ch  well  armed,  in  oriler  to  he 
]»rc])ared  to  repel  any  sudden  attack  from  the  Indians, 
and  their  j»astor  always  marched  into  his  j»uli)it  uith  ///.•* 
(1(1,1  veil  hxuird  (iihI  primed.'*  The  K(.'V.  Matthew  Clarke 
hecame  the  successor  of  Mi".  Me(  Jreuor,  and  on  Januarv 


5Hh,  1 


( .).>, 


married,  as  his  third  wife,  his  widow.     He  never 


ate  of  aiiytliiuji  which  had  possessed  animal  life,  and  while 
a  minister  of  the  Prince  of  Peace,  as  he  had  served  as  an 
oflicer  in  the  Protestant  aitny,  and  was  active  in  the  de- 
fence t)f  Londonderry  durin.>r  tlu?  memorahle  siejie,  his 
martial  spirit  would  not  unfrtMjuently  be  revived.  He 
died  January  25th,  173.'),  a,<!;ed  seventy-six. 

There  were  in  thost'  days  no  theolo^dcal  seminaries  in 
America,  and  previously  to  the  death  of  Mr.  Clarke,  the 
peo})le  made  application  to  the  Presl)ytery  of  Tyrone  for  a 

*  Tlio  Rev.  Zacliarv  Walkor,  of  Woodb'iry,  ("onnccticnt,  on  one  Sah- 
balli  piTaclitMl  tliroi' sfniiDiis  ami  shot  two  IiuliauH.  ile  was  ilie  tirst 
iiiiiiisHT  of  tliat  town.  So,  during'  the  eight  years  of  savafje  warfare  in 
the  ('iiiaberlanil  vaUey,  in  IVniisylvania,  tiie  Presbyterian  minister,  tlie 
Jiev.  John  Steele,  "often  exercised  his  ministry  witli  his  ^un  at  his  side, 
while  the  men  of  his  contrrej^ation  hud  then  their  wea|>i)ns  within  their 
reach.''  (('haml)ers'  Tribute,  y.  So.)  The  Norridt,o'walks  were  langht 
by  tiie  i'rench  missionaries  to  believe,  that  the  Mnirlish  murdered  the 
Saviour  of  mankind,  and  the  Indians  would  kill  all  of  theni  they  could." 
(Sewall,  j),  317,)  Wolfe's  victory  in  17o.)  put  a  slop  to  this  savage  cur- 
nagL,  and  uftcr  tliut  date  garrisuiis  and  bluckhouses  wt^re  not  iiebdud. 


■I 


I   < 


M  1 


T-r 


78 


HISTORY   OF    rriKSnYTEfUANISM 


camlifliitc,  "  Ji  suit:il)l(>,  \v«  llwuiiiliricd.  iuul  iurrcditcd  inin- 
istcr,  ti»  tiiUc  clijir^io  of  tlicfu  in  tin-  l-<tr<l,  ciiLTiiijiii;:  to  ])iiy 
liiiii  one  liiiinlicd  iind  lurty  |»(Uiii(ls  ;iiiiiUiilly.  licsidc  tlu' 
<'X|t('ns('S  ol"  his  voyiij:(',  with  (»iic-halt(il"  a  hoiiu'dot  and  a 
hundred  acre  out-iut,"  as  it  was  then  termed.  The  ••over- 
nt»r  of  the  colony  liad  tlien  hut  one  hinuh'ed  pounds  an- 
nually, '['his  shows  the  zeal  and  liherality  ol"  the  early 
settlers  in  supporting  the  ^osj)eI.  They  had  heeii  tau;_dit 
the  value  of  divine  (trdinane«'S,  and  they  appreciated  them 
l»y  "  honorin<r  the  i^ord  with  their  sidistance.''  On  the 
10th  dav  of  Oetoher,  IT-v'J.  the  I'ev.  'I'homas  Tlioni|ison, 
ordained,  nuirried  and  fully  accredited,  at  twenty-nine 
years  of  aj2;e,  was  installed  as  their  pastor.  As  t'Xpenses 
attendant  upon  his  installation,  there  were  jiaid  to  the 
Uev.  M«'ssrs.  LeMercier  and  Moorehead.  and  their  elders, 
,i;<S,  and  £2.  o.s.  for  man  and  horses  to  i»rin«f  them  from 
and  take  them  hack  to  Haverhill,  Massachusetts.  lie 
died  Septend)er  "i'Jd,  I7.")S.  Thouudi  his  ministry  was 
short,  it  was  liiirhly  acceptahle  to  the  jteople,  and  attended 
with  the  divine  hlessimi,  the  church  hein^  very  considera- 
bly increased  durini^  the  period  of  his  connection  with  it. 

At  a  sacramental  occasion  in  17H4  (only  lifteen  years 
after  the  settlement  of  the  town  t,  there  were  present  seven 
liundn'd  conununicants.  As  not  a  few  of  these  came  iVom 
other  conjrretrations/*  tokens  "  (as  cheap  and  convenient 
little  certificates  of  church  meinl)ershii»,  for  such  they 
were,)  were  dispens(>d  to  i>rev(>nt  unworthy  intruders. 

Thursday  hefore  the  connnunion  was  ohserved  as  a 
sacramental  fast  with  much  strictness,  while  preachin;^  on 
Friday  and  Saturday  and  thanks^fivintr  on  >Ion(lay,  were 
j»art  of  their  stated  communion  servic(\s.  There  would 
sometimes  he  three  or  four  tahles,  alter  which  a  short 
recess,  then  a  discourse  and  the  usual  devotional  ex'jrcises, 
which  wi're  often  extended  to  sunset. 

'"Such  scdemn  and  devout  convocations,  such  assem- 
bling of  the  j)eoj)le  for  several  consecutive  ilays  i'or  jtrayer, 
praise  and  preachimr;  if  the  ])ractice  were  revived  hy  the 
churches,  would  hapjtily  serve,  it  is  believed,  to  j)romot(* 
their  spirituality,  and  hrinjj;  down  the  <iivine  influences  in 
more  copious  eiliisions."     (Parker.) 

"The  settlement  continuin<f  to  receive  accessions  from 
Ireland  and  elsewhere,  and  the  remoter  sections  of  the 


IN    NEW    KNOT- A  NO. 


79 


townsliip    bcroTninf;    iiili:il)it(Ml,   sundry    pcrsoi.a    in    tlic 
tcrlv  pint  having;  nctitidUiMl   lor  that  oliji-ct,  wen-  set 


(ill'  as  a  r('li_M'»us  sncicty.  and.  in  \~'.'>\K  were,  liy  tlic  {.'cn- 
cral  court,  invrstt'd  witli  priviU'^M  s,  ami  slylud  the  West 
rarisli  in  Londonderry. 

"  Ui'V.  David  Mt'(ir('),M>r,  son  ol*  tlic  |{cv.  .lames  McdrcL'or, 
took  the  pastoral  eliar;re  (d' the  ncwly-t'tirnicd  conizrcLiation. 
lie  reciived  his  litt-rary  and  iheolojiical  education  chietly 
\nidcr  the  Hev,  Mr.  Clarke,  his  lather's  successor,  and  was 
ordaineil  in  IT-'IC)." 

The  Kast  Parish,  in  IT-'iO,  cidlcd  the  llcv.  William  David- 
son. They  jiave  him  one  hundred  and  sixty  p(»unds  ;is  ii 
settlement,  and  the  sanje  sum  annually  as  his  salary. 
Amidst  all  their  general  prosperity  and  the  enjoyment  of 
the  means  ot"  fjjraee,  unsanctilied  human  nature  ltei::in  to 
♦  tperate,  and,  at  an  laily  day,  harmony  hecame  impaired 
hetween  the  two  eon^'re^'atious.  A  nundier  ol"  families 
residin;r  in  the  east  one,  hein;r  dissatisTuMl  with  Mr.  David- 
son's ministry,  an<l  particularly  attaciied  to  .Mr.  .Mc- 
(irej^or,  as  he  was  the  son  ol"  their  former  )>ast«>r.  more 
evam^elical  in  his  doctrinal  views,  and  a  more  talented 
])reacher  than  Mr.  Davidson,  united  with  the  newly-lbrmcd 
jtarish. 

\  chancre  of  about  a  mile  in  the  site  of  the  West  Church 
imlueed  about  the  same  lunnber  of  fandlies  (about  forty) 
to  withdraw  from  the  West  and  unite  with  the  ICast.  Thi.s 
unhapi)y  tlivision.  which  lasted  for  nearly  forty  years,  was 
](roduetivi'  of  evils  ion^  lelt  in  the  conjire^'ations,  not  only 
oecasioninj;  alienation  of  feelin<;  and  often  bitter  aniniosi- 
tii'S  between  the  niend)ers  of  these  two  churches,  but  also 
preventinu'  all  ndnislerial  and  even  social  inli-rcourse  Ix^- 
tween  their  pastors.  The  following'  minute  from  the 
re(;ortls  of  the  session  (of  Juno  1st,  174.'>),  nuiy  servo  to 
show  the  want  of  Christian  fellowship  which  then  ex- 
isted :  ' 

"  James  Wilson  came  to  the  session  and  desired  to  bo 
admitted  to  the  sacrament,  to  which  Mr.  Davidson  told 
him,  with  the  si'ssion,  that  we  admitted  none  that  |»artook; 
with  Mr.  Mc(ire<ior;  and  was  inipiired  of  whether  or  not  it 
was  a  |>ersonal  (piarrel  with  his  minister  that  made  him 
decline  from  him.  lie  answered  it  was  not,  but  only  tho 
teiuiUa  (, tenets;  they  held  iij)  aiuong.st  them,  and  that  he 


VV  I 


Ii         '  I   '  > 


m: 


ii ' 


U 


-m"        ""    y  ipi 


li 


80 


IIISTOUV    OK    rUlsnYTKUIANISM 


would  not  join  with  tlimi  for  tlio  futnro.  jnul  upon  tlioRo 
lie  ^ot  ii  tnkrn  ol  ;i(lnii>>i<)n."' 

This  alienation  is  Curtlirr  shewn  hy  their  resiKctivc 
viowH  ol'  th(^  preat  awakenin;.'  or  e.\tra<>r<linaiv  s(  rio\isn(ss 
and  attention  to  reliLMon  which,  in  1711,  in  the  days  oCthe 
Tenants,  ol'  I'ldwards,  and  of  W'hitelield,  si»  extensively 
jirevailed  in  this  conntry,  peivadin-j:  New  Kni:land  and  ex- 
tondin^  to  this  town.  ,Me(ireL^iir  |»reached  and  entei<(i 
fiirncstly  into  the  awakenini^,  and  a  ha|i|iy  addition  was 
made  to  his  ehnieh.  havidson  and  his  ehureii  stdod 
ai(*or  from  all  jiartieipation  in  the  work.  The  Uev.  (JeorL^e 
Whitdiehl  preached  t(t  a  v<ry  iai-^e  (Mtllection  of  penple  in 
the  open  Held,  the  nieriiii.:j-hMus<'  nti(  hein;/  lai'^c  enontjli 
to  ac(-onnnodale  them.  '■.\ltlioUL:h  Davidson  antl  those  in 
llu!  Preshyterian  coiniection  who  sympathized  with  him, 
adhered  to  the  Confession  of  ]*'ai!h  and  catechisms  in  their 
families,  sclutols  and  con jrct^at inns,  yet  in  their  |>reachin'4 
they  left  out.  as  has  heen  justly  said,  the  flistinctive  doc- 
trines of  the  ( 'alvinistic  system,  dwelt  chielly  on  moral  and 
practical  <luti<'S,  won;  not  /eal')us  for  the  c(»nvei>i<tn  of  sin- 
ners, and  in  their  preachin.!  and  tievotional  seivices  lacked 
that  unction  an<l  iervor  which  disiin<^uished  the  advocates, 
promoters  an<l  suhj<'cts  olthe  ^reat  revival." 

The  result  was  that  vital  Liodliness  greatly  declined  in 
this  church,  few  were  a'  ed  hy  pi-olessinii.  disci|iline  was 
much  ne;j;Iected,  and  the  distinctive  lines  hetwcen  the 
chund)  and  tin*  world  wei<'  nearly  ohlilerated. 

Mr.  McdrcLior,  vindicatin^r  the  work  from  the  cliar;_'es  of 
antinomianism  and  fanaticism  ( /V///'v\'  //^-^;/•//l,  says: 
''  For  my  own  part,  I  have  seen  little  or  no  ap|)earance  of 
the  }j;rowth  of  antinomian  ermrs  or  ;niythin^  visioni'.ry  or 
cnthusiastie,  either  in  my  own  conL'r<'^ation  or  anion;:  the 
])eople  in  the  nei-jhli'trhood  where  1  live.  Indeed,  if  as- 
serting justilication  hy  faith  alune.  and  denying'  it  hy  the 
law  as  a  covenant  of  works,  wtiih?  the  eternal  (>!>liijatit)n  of 
the  law  as  a  rule  of  life  is  strongly  maintained  in  practice 
as  Well  as  ])rofession — if  this,  I  say,  Ix-  antinomian  <loc- 
trine,  tln-n  we  ha.c  a  ;ireat  i^rowth  of  antinomianism. 
Airain,  if  us.'^ertin^f  the  necessity  of  supernatural  iidluence 
or  divine  (iier^'y  in  conversion,  or  the  reality  of  tin*  imuM;- 
diat(!  witnessing  and  sealing'  of  tli<'  S|»irit  he  nillinsin.siit, 
tlit'ii  vvc  have  a  remarkable  spread  oi"  eatliusia»m ;  and  in 


IN    NKVV    FNOLAND, 


81 


tho?o  spncos  nmv  nnfinonii:inistii  nii'l  ontliusiasm  ^o\r 
Tiinn-  .mihI  juori'  till  tlicv  ovcrspp-inl  the  whole  liind." 

W'l'  now  look  a  litllr.  (Ill  what  was  farther  done  in  the 
extension  of  I'resliyteriar.isin  (jiirinir  the  first  twenty-five 
years  at'tfi'  the  st'tt Itniciit  ot"  l><Try.  N.  11. 

In  all  towns  wIhtc  I'rrsitylt  rians  niiiitrled  with  tho 
]ialiv<'>^.  they  had  to  mrounter  stronti  prejudiees,  were 
vi.  wed.  to  sotni!  extfut,  as  iiitrud<rs,  and  were  conipeTled 
to  support  a  t'onn  of  chui'i'!)  'j-ov«'rnni<nt  .in<l  worship  for 
which  they  had  no  allcftion,  (  onsecjuetitly,  if  they 
ohtaincd  u  |>eaeeal)ie  sctth-nient  and  were  not  driven  olV 
or  rxpellrd.  they  wti-c  in  a  urncration  or  two  ol'ten  assiini- 
latcd  to  ami  alnorl.t  I  hy  tin'  ovt-rshadowin;;  iidlnenee  of 
the  colonial  religion. 

Hence  their  nieetin'.'-lntnscs  in  many  towns  lirivo  passed 
into  the  |)ossession  of  ("onLrrc/ationalists.  These  i<ettle- 
niiiits  were  made  almost  wholly  of  I'rcshyterians  from  the 
north  of  Ireland,  and  the  S.'otch  i  excepting'  those  wlio 
Went  t(»  the  Province  of  Maine  i  do  not  appear  to  have 
collie  into  New  Kn;_dand  in  colonies  until  after  the  middle 
of  this  century. 

At  this  period,  however,  minister-  tVoin  the  Kirk,  tljo only 
rder  of  Pre.shyterians  then  in  Scotland  («'xceptinj;  a  lew 
of  the  Reformed  i  c.iiiie  over,  'j'jie  mini.ster  of  tho  majority 
of  the  voti's  of  a  town  was  su|iported  hy  a  parish  tax  col- 
licted  hy  civil  anthoiity.  and  alt lioujh  this  was  les.s  secure 
than  patronau'e  in  Scotland,  yet  individual  adventurers 
from  iJritish  i'reshyti  ries  were  not  unfri<|Uently  liire(l  to 
M  rvt   ( 'on'.ii'e:,.Ml  ional  soi'ieties. 

Ahout  this  period  .lame-  Keilli.  John  ('anij)hell,  IIuEtli 
<"aniphell,  llu-h  II en rv.  John  .M(  Kinslrv  and  John  (Jra- 


o 


h 


lani.  as  we  have  .^-eeii.  S'vvimI  as  pastors  m  this  way. 

'■  .M.uiy  of  the  enii'  rants  (who  came  to  the  Hav  in  and 
h(  fore  ]{\:',:',)  jiad.  while  in  l-ln'rhiud,  Ixlon.L'ed  to  the  eon- 
,L'r( 'Ration  of  the  jlev.  Thonias  Iloolcer,  a  preacher  of  great 
ctlehrily,  who,  to  ( -(-ape  lines  and  imprisonment  for  non- 
ci'iilormify.  ha<l  lied  into  Holland.  Iteiii'.'L'rca  y  attaehe<l 
t"  him.  at  their  e:irnesl  reipiesi  he  came  to  them  and  \)vr- 
Miaded  Mr.  SanuH  I  Stone  to  accompany  him  as  an 
a«-i 


-tant.  They  arrived  in  I'.oston  Septcjiiher  4th,  lt».").'i. 
<Mi  Oeidhcr  Jllh  thev  Were  ord.aiiied  to  their  resjx'ctivo 
ollii.i's  as  pastor  and  teacher  in  the  church  at  Cumhridiro 


I 


i  u 


T  T 


iii 

I*! 


82 


mSTOUY   OK    rUKSHYTEKIANISM 


in  thn  now  way.  Finclinj^  liiiiipclf  ovorsliiulowod  l)y  thn 
great  inHiiciK'c  of  the  Kcv.  Mr.  Cotton,  in  Hi.'JO,  he  (witli 
Jjis  wliok*  churcl)  uiid  coii^n'cj^Mtion,  consist  in<^  of. -il  tout  one 
Inmdn'd  persons)  reiriove(J  to  C-onnecti^ut  iind  eoniiiujnct'd 
the  settlenicjit  of  Ilurttbrd."     (  Cam.  C»n.  Fnith.) 

"  l'r('sl)yteriiinisin  lias  not  tx-cn  \vitlir)ut  ri^ht  in  Con- 
necticut.  'i'he  |iiin('i|»al  friends  !in<l  patrons  of  tlie  colony 
at  tlie  time  of  its  seitleinent  were  I'resln'teriiins :  and  so 
were  many  of  those  who  eanu;  over  at  an  early  day. 
Some  of  th(?  first  ministers  of  this  colony  were  avowed 
J*reshyterinns.  That  is  snch  as  were;  I'reshyterians  in 
En<.dand  from  loT'i  until  loill.  Thc!  later  I'liritan  enii^Ma- 
tion  itroLiuht  with   it  '  a  leaven  of  I'reshvterianism,' savs 


Dr.  liacon   (('oiifrih.  J  list,   < 


onii. 


p.  1 


t  K  :in( 


1   it 


s  workni'jH 


sy.^ 


'<•  to  l)e  traced   in  the  Sayhrook    Platform.     IJuhr  the 
stem  of  church   iiolitv   thert;  defhied,  the  consociation 


dicial 


could  he  made,  and  was  made;  to  a  ^rreat  extent  a  jut 
and  authoritative  trihunal  (p.  I'J'J),  corresponding'  very 
closely  with  the  l*resl»ytery.  In  kcepin;^  with  these  facts, 
the  name  I'reshyterian  has  heen  appli(.'d  very  connuonly  to 
the  churches  of  ( 'onnecticut,  aiid  on  more  than  one  occasion 
it  has  heen  atlirnKMl,  upon  hiirh  authority,  that  the  system 
of  (ihurch  order  prevailinj^  aiuonji  them  was  really  Preshy- 
terianisrn."  (J/id.  Dine.  Ibid.^  p.  G.'i;  Dr.  DwujhCs  Truccls, 
vol.  iv.,  J).  410  se(i.) 

"  Hut  the  churches  in  this  Stato  that  have  been  in  a 
stricter  and  more  usual  sens(;  i'lV'shyterian  have  never 
been  nuin<'rous,  and  they  have  come  into  existence  \nider 
special  conditions.  In  Voluntown,  now  Sterling,  Wind- 
ham conntv,  a  church  was  orL^•lni/.^d  on  the  15th  of 
October,  172.".."     {Rrr.  ('has.  W.  Jiaml.) 

'Iho.  Rev.  Samuel  Dorrance,  a  native  of  Ireland,  was  set- 
tled there  on  that  flay,  and,  on  AuL'U><t  Mth,  171.),  a  peti- 
tion from  said  town  was  received  hy  the  oritrinal  i'reshy- 
tery  at  its  meetin;^  in  Poston  in  the  LeMercier  Church,  on 
which  he  and  his  conLrre;^ation  was  received,  lie  was  dis- 
missed in  177'>,  and  the  church  hecanH?  Con!:r(\L^•ltionaI 
Junt;  .'lOth,  177'.).  Of  this  Prcshytery  he  was  prohahly 
durinjr  its  existence  a  memhcr.  I  le  died  then;  on  Novem- 
ber 12th,  177''),  in  the  ninetieth  year  of  his  a^'o  and  the 
forty-seventh  of  his  nunistry.  Peters  (  7/m/.  dJ Citnn.)  says: 
**lu  Voluntown  tliero  is  one  Presbyterian  purish.    This 


IN    NKW    K.Nlil.AXD. 


8B 


il.i 


port  ]in.=  rx)oi  wllli  ns  littlo  Cliristinn  rlinrity  nnd  linmnnity 
in  this  liiiiiliraiiifd  <'(»niiiniiiily  as  the  Aiiahaptists,  (Qua- 
kers and  <  'liurchiiH'ii.  The  '  sdlur  (lissciitcrs  '  <it"  this  ti)\vn 
(as  thcv  slvli'  thcMisclvcs)  will  not  attend  the  t'lnural  of  a 


Preshytt'i-ian  '    (  p.  MVI 


Th 


nn 


ht.  however,  aj»]>ly  o 


nlv 


to  the  state  of  that  eoniinunity  in  the  time  of  liis  succes- 
sor, llie  llev.  .Mr.  (iihiiore. 

Of  all  the  in(lueti(»iis  of  Presbyterian  ministers  to  sorvo 
C'onL'i'eL'ationalist  societies,  that  which  as  the  occasion  was 


1 


iro( 


hut 


ive  ol  the  most  extensive  eonse([uenees  for  evil  was 


the  settlement  ot'  the  I {ev.  James  II illhouse  with  the  second 
]>aiish  of  New  London  ( callcil  Monlvillcj  in  that  colony  on 
Uctoher  ;;d,  1722. 

Kor  several  years  matters  apjx-ar  to  have  prospered  with 
him,  hut  wlietlaT  his  doctrine  did  not  suit  his  audience  or 
his  |>raetiee  hccamo  impropt-r,  does  not  appear.  For  some 
cause,  hitwever,  he  became  iuipo|)ular  with  his  people. 
Jle  also  proseeuteil  one  of  his  nei'^hhors  an<l  was  non- 
suited. The  power  of  his  employers  was  now  exerted  to 
remove  him.     The  people  shut  the  church  door  on   him 


mil  withlield  his  salarv 


.\  Council,"  not  "  mutual,"'  hut 


■X  part( 


w 


as  held,  and  instead  of  advisin<_f  him  to  ask  for 


a  dismis.'^ion,   they   in    ITo-')   ''ordered   him    U)  risign    liis 
oil 


ice 


This  ho  did  not  do;  hut  continued  to  preach  and  do- 


mand  Ins  salary. 

To  protect  himself  (ecclesiastically,  he  applied  to  the 
Preshyt«'ry  for  admission. 

Kxcitt.'mcnt  l>ccame  rite.  The  correspondence  between 
the  ConuMcirational  and  Presbyterian  ndnisters  of  an  iAW- 
cial  and  especially  of  a  fraternal  character  was  now  i'Up- 
turc(l,  by  specific  vi(!ws  of  church  j)ow(>r. 

If  the  I'resbytery  should  adnut  inm,  while  "ordered" 
by  :i  council  to  resiu'u  bis  ollice,  a  par  value  would  not  bo 
placed  on  their  standiuL'  and  authority. 

On  this  (|Uestion  the  Presbytery  divided. 

A  majority  were  for  rejectint,'  him,  but  at  amectiuLr  held 
in  IT'lC).  when  but  live  ministers  wen;  |>res<nt,  by  the  aid 
(tf  tiie  votes  of  riding  elders,  Pey.  Messrs.  .Moorehead 
and  Harvey  ha<l  him  admitted  by  a  majority  of  one  vote. 

Afrainst  his  admission,  the  three  other  ministers  then 
present  protested.     They  could  only  protest — not  appeal, 


1^ 


.11 

i 


!     ,;li 

.1  ^ 
•  r 

t    ; 

; 

Jii  • 

»|i 

■i 

li  i 

m  I 

i 

m 

$4  msTOHY    OK    IMCMSnYTERIANISM 

for  tlicrc  w.'is  not  until  iif.'irly  forty  years  nftor,  nny  pynorl 

iicMrcr  lliaii  IitlaiiW,  witli  wliicli  tln-y  liad  any  <'onnc(  tion. 

Mr.  Moon-licad   maintained,  that    tluMiuh   hired  l»v  Con- 


pre;rati(»Malists,  as    he   was  not    ordannd    hy  any  ol   their 
councils,  he  was  n<»t  anienalije  or  subject  to  them. 

lie  )»rosecuted  his  |»arish   for  his  salary,  lost  his  case  in 


court,  and  on   .June   'JSlJi,  1 


I  'U 


he  was  cast,  out  and  de- 


1 


»()se( 


I    ( 


savs 


I.e.M 


ereien  hy  a  couju'd,  who  also  appo 


in  ted 


another  ni  his  stead 


l''rom  17-JO,  peace  and  the   I'reshytery  shook   hands  and 


lai 


le.l.      I 


Jccours(!  was   had,  not    only  to   vindications  Ite- 


fore  the  I'reshytery.  hill  criminations  and  iccriinination.s 
Were  spread  het'ore  tjic  people,  hy  hot h  the  pul|)it  and  IIk; 
j>ress.  Anion;;  those,  thus  aliciiatecl,  were  the  pastors  of 
th(j  IJoHton  churches.  Le.Mercier  advocated  tin!  expc- 
ilieucy,  if  not  the  princi|»le  ol'  reco^ni/inL''  the  action  of  tlu? 
council  as  valid  while  .Moorehead  iiiainlaiiied,  that  its 
''power  (as  e.\ercised  in  the  ciise  of  Mr.  ilillhousc)  was 
.Jesuitical  and  usurped" — and  that  as  he  had  rec«'ived  his 
<ii(lination  heiorc  he  (lanie  to  the  colonies,  tin*  I'reshytery, 
in  17'>'>,  "  recc.'ivcd  him  as  a  memher  ol"  the  Church  of 
.Scotland. " 

I''n»m  th(»  pulpit  also,  cviden<M'S  of  alienation  wen;  pre- 
Hcnted,  and  hom   jaike  .\vi.  lo,  Mr.   Moorehead   preache<l 

le.xtually  to  the  I 're.shylery.  This  of  course  produced  deep 
feelinLS  which  was  iiwacased  hy  Mr.  ilillhousc,  who  per- 
sistently |»ressed  his  admission  on  the  court. 

Such  was  the  furor  of  the  contest,  that,  in  Octoher,  17.'>n, 
the  Kev.  Mr.  Harvey  was  siis|»enr|ed  hy  I'reshytery  - 
Avhile  th<!  K'ev.  Mr.  Moorehead  was  twice  rehuked  and 
iinally  suspended  from  nHice  and  emolument.  When  un- 
der process, '*  hoth  Mr.  Moorehead  and  .Mr.  Harvey  wen.* 
)ermitted  to  ^ive  their  reasons  and  defend  their  c(»urse 
tefore    I'ri'shvtcry."      Uesides     Monreliead.    Ilarvev,    and 


II 


illhouse,   then'    were    in    and   remained   in    l'resl»vt(>rv 


liv(!    ministers —LcMcrcier,  Thompson,   Wilson,   McdiCna- 
lian.  and  .lohnston. 

The  ricshytery  which  met  in  I'.oston  Oct.,  IT-'Ul  ("that  is, 
tht'Hc  live  clergymen  with  their  elders;,  forhade  their 
inemheis  to  preach  or  cxtrcise  any  ministerial  ollic*'  (says 
J.,e.Mcrci(  i)  within  the  hounds  of  the  other  ministers, 
without  the  kuowk'dgo  of  tliu  rrcsbytery — that  is,  tlicy 


I'M 


IN    NEW    ENOLANP. 


85 


woro  not  In  proncli  in  tlio  fiulpits  of  ^Tr.  !\foorolic;i(l  or 
Mr.  ii.irvfv,  iiii<l  lir  iMrllicr  s:iys.  ";is  tin-  ministers  ol'  tlnj 
tdwii  ol'  lldstoii  li:ivi'  lici'ii  iilwiiys  williiii;  to  live  in  Irimil- 
nliip  with  the  I'rcshylcrian  ministers,  nnd  to  shew  tlirir 
rc^iiird  lor  nood  order,  tlicy  have  not  preached  tor  'John 
I'nshyter.'  since  they  lieard  that  he  had  heen  susjtended 
l»y  the  I'reshytc  ry. 

"To  receive  Sir.  Ilillhouse  would  make  I'reshytery 
verv  riiUcllloUS  in  the  eyes  of  the  people  of  New  Kuj^- 
land."  I  llemarks  LiMn-ri<i\  p.  1  1. 1  Thus,  "the  l»e- 
;jinniu<;  of  strile  was  like  the  httin<f  out  of  water,"'  and 
the  I'leshyteiial  harmony,  whicli  it  had  ie<piired  years  to 
esiahlish  and  maintain,  was  now  forever  hroken  l)y  parti- 
nan  passion. 

While  "  .Mr.  Ililllwuise  forced  himself  into  the  Preshy- 
tery,  not  at  all  to  the  satisfaction  of  its  mend)erH  (says 
LeM.)  this  was  not  the  only  j^niund  <if  ^'rievance  of  which 
tli(>  majority  complained,  and  which  made  the  separation 
final. 

"In  tl»e  IM'cshytery  held  in  I'.oston  in  Oct.,  \~'M\,  when 
the  names  of  the  several  memliers  wire  called,  amonji  the 
rest  was  that  of  Mr.  David  Mc(lrepore.  '.\s  he  had  never 
sat  with  them  hefore,  the  llev.  Mr.  Kutheilord  desired  to 
know  how  he  hecame  a  memher,  and  who  pave  the  or- 
dainers  power  to  do  it?  As  the  major  pait  desired  to 
he  satisfied  in  this,  helori'  they  admitted  Mr.  Me(ireLM)re, 
Mr.  Moorehead,  previously  or<lainer,  and  now  moderator, 
not  jiivin^r  u  satisfactory  answer,  the  majority  denied  Mr. 
Mc(ire<j;ore's  rip:ht  to  a  seat.  After  much  deiiate  and  sonn^ 
Irnitlfss  propositions,  Messrs.  Moon  head  and  Harvey  de- 
clared, that   tliev    Wduld    not    sit   in    I'reshvterv   with    tin; 


rest,  if  Mr.  Mc(. 


rej^ro 


»re  was  not  permitted   to  vote 


This 


iiein^'  still  refused,  "Mr.  Moon-head  left  thechairaml  the 
)iiceliiijr-|iouse  (the  French  one',  followed   hv  Ilarvev  and 


M(( 


re).or( 


All 


■solicitation    was    in     vain. 


Tl 


lev    re 


\\\!H'{\  to  return.  I'erhapsthey  resolved  to  set  lij)  a  I'reshy- 
tiry  of  their  own  to  screen  themselves  from  justly  deserved 
<ciiMire."  (I.(M.)  This  was  a  sori'owlul  s|tectacle,  thai 
these  few  ministers,  nearly  all  of  the  same  race,  from  lands 
of  martyred  ancestries,  professedly  Itelievin;^  the  same 
tliiii<:s,  under  the  same  vows  and  walkin;,'  hy  the  same 
ruli,  should  now  utterly   'fail  out  by  the  way.'     Yet'tho 


i- 


!l 


m 


I  I 


!       ; 


It 


1 

1 

i 

J 

f 

, 

f 

-.. 

■  1 

- 

■  1 

i 

' 

41 

m 

86 


HISTORY   OF    PRriSBYTimiANI.SM 


;i  ' ! 


contention  w.'is  so  sharp  botwoon  tlu'jn,tliat  tlioy  doprirtofl 
asunder  the  one  tVoni  tlic  otlicr.'  and  liccanic  '  two  hands.' 
jNIoorchcail  and  llarvcy  ( and  possiMy  sonio  others)  had, 
in  17''><i,  orchiincd  and  rccciviMJ  Mr.  McCircirorc  when  ob- 
viously hut  a  minority  of  the  Prcsliytrry  (  probably  owinj^ 
to  their  distance*  iVoin  IJnstont  were  in  attendance.  To 
the  suspension,  which  tbilowed.  they  were  jirohably 
liroui^ht,  by  the  impulsive  temperament  of  Mr.  Mooreh(>a(l 
jMid  his  Strom:  attachment  to  his  i-ountryinen,  while  Le- 
Mercier's  sympathies  prol»ably  were  somewhat  misled,  by 
his  early  associations  and  then  present  surrounding's  of 
church  and  state,  i'lie  un|tlcasant  beariu'.:  of  Mr.  Ilill- 
liouse  also  mado  his  fi'Uowship  witli  tiie  I'resbytery  to  bo 
of  a  short  duration,  and  it  did  not  nullil'y  the  action  of  tho 
council  in  his  case. 

Owinj;  to  the  widely  scattered  position  of  tho  members 
of  Presbytery,  and  consefjuent  prohai)le  n(m-af)pearance  at 
stated  occasional  mcH'tinirs,  especially  in  winter,  we  can 
account  for  the  absence  (»f  a  majority  of  the  ministers  at 
the  ordination  of  Mr.  David  .Mcdreuore  (who  had  been  pre- 
viously licensed);  but  why  tlu^  Kev.  .Mr.  Rutherford,  "who 
was  ot  an  amiable  and  excellent  disposition."  should  aim 
to  exclude  him,  does  not  so  fully  appear,  'i'he  younj^  man 
was  much  beloved,  eminently  poi)ular  and  useful.  Per- 
haps the  fact  that  he  had  not  graduated  at  any  colle<remay 
in  part  account  for  the  ojjposition  of  the  majority  of  tho 
ministers.  Jud^dn^  fr(»m  the  ])art  which  the  Uev.  Mr. 
Rutherford  took  in  excludim;  him,  it  is  not  easy  to  deter- 
mine whether  he  intensely  desired  to  have  order  observed 
to  the  letter,  or  acted  from  a  love  of  |»rc-e!nineiice.  or  both, 
lie  live<l  on  the  then  most  remote;  bordi-rs  of  civilization  in 
the  Province  of  Maine.  To  the  shores  of  the  Kenn»'l>ec 
Mr.  Rol)ert  Temple,  from  Ireland,  hail  brought  a  colony 
in  171'.>or  1720. 

Wiiile  some  of  them,  diseoura<ied  by  the  climate  and 
the  wilderness,  had  sought  in  the  middle  or  southern  colo- 
nies a  more  pleasant  home,  others  remained  antl  had  occa- 
sional supplies  of  preaching. 

In  Scdi'lioro,  Maine,  in  1720,  tiie  Rev.  IIu'_di  ('am|)bell, 
from  S(;otlan(l,  preached.  He  remained  oidv  about  one 
year,  and  was  in  June,  1722,  succeedt'd  by  his  countryman., 
the  litjv.  Hugh  Henry,  who,  although  he  was  not  formally 


IN    NKW    KNGLAND. 


87 


pcttlofi,  in  172')  suod  til''  town   fur  liis  snlary,  which  was 
61'vnity  pounds  piT  niinuni.  l»nt  did  not  recover  it. 

As  tliiit  wiis  the  ;il:<'  of  colonics  tVoin  Inlmid  to  America, 
wr  (indtli;it  in  172!)  :i  Colonel  hunliar  hrouj^lil  over  a  num- 
her  ot"  I'reshyteriiins.  "  His  culonists  (  we  a^'ain  refer  to  the 
]Ion.  \\ m.  \\'illis)  in  two  years  aniounlcd  to  more  than 
one  iiundrcd  and  twenty  families,  and  with  the  first  of 
these  lie  hrouj^dit  as  minister  the  Kev.  Kcdnrt  Hutherford." 
^hissaehusetts,  wliieh  then  claimed  jurisdiction  over  the 
I'rovince  of  Maine,  protest- d  aijainst  his  usurpations,  and 


ns  troV( 


rnment  over  his  colnnv  ceased,  for  he  was  (h'iven 


out  hy  tiie  forces  of  the  tornier  in  Au-iust,  17''>2.  He,  how- 
ever, when  in  possession,  had  ceded  to  his  (Countrymen  tlie 
towns  of  Hristol,  iNohlesboro  and  Boothhav.  He  returned 
to  Britain  in  1737. 

Of  Andrew  Reed,  a  principal  settler  in  Townsend,  it  is 
paid  that  lor  a  whole  winter  ( that  of  1780)  he  read  iiis  Bible 
and  (;ut  and  piled  (>ordwood  alone,  exposed  at  all  times  to 
the  sava^'cs,  and  when  asked  on  his  return,  "  Were  you  not 
afraid?"'  answered,  "Had  not  1  the  Bihle  with  me?  I 
was  neither  alone,  nor  afraid  of  the  Indians."  (S.,  p.  264.) 
Of  the  descendants  of  the  Dmihar  ciniL^ration,  says  Sewall, 
)).  '2iV.\.  "they  are  intelligent,  enterprising,  fearless,  thrifty, 
peaceful  and  viiiorous." 

Waldo,  who  hatl.  as  the  ajrent  of  Massachusetts,  a]ipeared 
suceessfully  agaiiist  Dunhar  in  l^iigland,  next  hrouirht  over 
emigrants  to  Maine.  'I'wenty-seven  families  of  Scotch 
descent  from  the  north  of  Iri'land,  who  in  178.')  arrived 
under  his  direction,  were  each  hy  him  furnished  with  one 
hundrecl  ;ieres  ol' land  on  the  hanks  ol"  the  rivir  St.  (leorge, 
in  the  town  of  W'arrt'U. 

Hutherford  had  thus  from  his  arrival  an  ample  field  of 
'He  ))reached  in  Bristol  four  or  live  yeai's."  ( W'il- 


lal 


>or. 


namson  s 


M; 


line.!     To  assist  him,  the  Rev.  William  Mc- 


Clenahan  came  over  ahout  17'>1.  Neither  of  them,  jjow- 
ever,  appears  to  have  had  in  Maine  a  permanent  settlement. 
An  increase  ti>  tlu'ir  numl)ers,  in  this  region,  occurred  in 
this  way:  About  17M)the  "(Jrand  Desiu^n,"  with  passen- 
gers for  Pennsylvania,  was  wrecked  on  .M(»unt  Deser*,  and 
many  of  the  survivo's  settled  in  Warren,  IVunujuid, 
81ieepscot  and  Damariscotta. 
While,  at  this  date,  it  is  supposed  that  no  part  of  New 


'in 
d 


;  '■' 


■     V 


i 

} 

;i 

1   . 

»    -  1 

■J 

1 ., 

J 

<'''^i 


lIISTOItY    OF    rilKSBYTKiaAMSM 


England  was  so  str<>ni:ly  I'ri-sliytcrinn  ;is  was  tlio  PDuntry 
lyinfj;  between  the  Kciincltcc  ;m(l  I'ciiohscdt,  yet,  to  etleet 
settlenuMits  of  this  ehiireh  order  was  dillieiilt,  owinj;  to  the 
tenacity  or  ohstiiiaey  of  thi-  ('(»ii;j:re;iati()n;dists  in  the  (hf- 
ferent  parishes.  'I'hey  seldom  heejime  I'reshyterians,  while 
the  others  frecpiently  united  with  them. 

From  17^^4  till  near  17.17  tiie  IJev.  K.  Uutherford  preached 
chiefly  at  Pemaquid,  and  in  17o7  he  preached  at  lirnns- 
wick,  where  he  was  settled  as  the  first  minister  of  that 
town,  and  continued  there  till  171'_'.  "Williamson.)  In 
3747  Mr.  Kuthertord  was  clia|dain  in  Hendersons  Fort,  at 
Pleasant  Point,  lie  asked  a  suitable  sum  for  his  table 
expenses  and  was  refused.  Perhaps  his  bein<,'  a  Presbyte- 
rian as  well  as  a  friend  of  (iovernor  Dunbar's  op(.'rated 
af^ainst  him.  (P.  o*.},  Katon.j  He  died  at  Thomaston  in 
October,  175(5,  aued  (J.S  years. 

The  Rev.  William  MeClenahan  was  invited  in  1734  to 
settle  at  Georj^etown,  but  the  ('onifre,i.;ationalists  kept  up  a 
quarrel  for  the  two  years  in  wiiieh  he  occasionally  prtached 
to  them.  On  the  loth  of  November,  17'X),  he  was  installed 
at  Cape  Elizabeth,  as  apjiears  by  the  ''Journal  of  the  Hev. 
Thomas  Smith,  of  Falmouth,''  who()|»posed  his  usi'fulness. 
His  temperament  was  such  that  lie  was  ollen  in  dilliculty, 
and  in  this  place  "he  stirred  up  a  controV(  rsy  which  eniled 
in  his  dismission,"  and  he  returned  to  (Jeorj^'ctown  and 
vicinity. 

Cape  Elizabeth  had  been  partly  settled  by  the  McGrep^orc 
and  Boyd  emij;ration,  and  now,  seventeen  years  afterwanls, 
the  number  (jf  families  which  had  settled  at  Porpooduc,  on 
Casco  Bay,  in  Falmouth  Township,  is  supposed  to  have 
been  about  twenty,  who.  alihouudi  tliey  at  lirsl  enit)yed  the 
services  of  the  Uev.  William  Cornwall,  antl  afti-r  he  had 
left  them  the  labors  of  the  ivcv.  Mr.  Woodside— still,  such 
were  their  disadvantaircs  civilly  as  well  as  physically  that 
they  were  unai>le  lonj;  to  sustain  ordinances. 

Congregationalism  obtained  the'  ascendency  in  the  town, 
and  now  after  some  twenty  years  of  struji^de  for  a  perma- 
nent existence,  with  the  departure  of  Mr.  Mcf'lenahan  Pres- 
byterianism  becamt'  prostrated,  so  that  when,  some  thirty 
years  later,  a  Presbyterian  cleru'yman  i)reached  a  iSabbatli 
or  two  in  the  vicinity,  while  his  teaehinfzs  and  usa,tj:es  in 
worship  were  hailed  with  great  delight  by  the  aged,  yet 


IX    XF.W    KNtilAND. 


89 


the  Prrsbytfrinn  flrmont  Imd  liccomc  nrarly  extinct,  either 
liv  rciiiovMl  or  I'V  ronrnniiity  tn  <itlier  usML'es,  or  l>y  hotli. 

W'e  liiive.  then,  the  early  decay  <tt'  I'rt  shyteriaiiisiii   in 
tlie  iitiuh''<»fh()<)(l  t»|'('a-e(t  I5ay,  and  it  never  revivecl. 

Midin;ihl  violeui'e  was  not  proitalily  einpUtyed  towards 
this  |)e(t]iU',  as  il  was  al'ont  tiiis  (hite  to  the  ehtireh  in 
Worcester,  yet,  iVoni  the  "Journal  of  the  IJev.  Thomas 
Smith,  ol'  Falmouth,"  and  other  sources,  we  lind  that  they 
Were  treatetl  in  an  ind<ind  manner,  on  ac(;ount  of  their 
views  (»r  church  ;:ovcinm(nt  and  Christian  worship. 

The  rraiimcnlary  and  opposing  condition  ol"  '•the  op- 
]ir(sseil  Irish  hrctiiren"  and  their  ministry  at  this  time, 
tVnin  IToO  till  \'i  \'K  and  later  in  New  Knj.dand.  was  luimil- 


latMi'j;  and  trymu  to  tho-e  who  were  triuy   piou- 


Tl 


lev 


had  no  <  oun(  ctinii  with  the  rrcohytcrics  and  Synods  whii-li 
had  since  the  commencement  ot"  that  ('('iitury  spruns:  up 
in  the  central  colonics,  and  they  had  no  Synotj  with  which 
tlicy  w<  re  identified  nearer  than  Ireland  to  which  they 
could  ixo  hy  review  or  appeal.  Conscijueiitly,  order  and 
jieacf  in  tiieir  churches  sulVered  exten.-ivcly.  Several 
cases  were,  l>v  relcrcnce,  t'roni  time  to  lime  carried  to  tlio 
Synod  of  I'lster.  After  Moorehead  .and  llarvcy  were 'in 
l(.')7j  suspendi'd  and  Mc(ire;,'ore's  ordination  uas  i<_'nored, 
Ihitherford,  LeMercier,  Thomson,  Wilson,  McCleiiahan 
and  .Johnston  (their  con^M'e^ations  wdiere  thcv  were  settled 


n<l 


th 


lose  adlierin'i'  to  tlieni  in  the  varied  vacan 


jiastors.  a 

cies  and    settlements  i    coiirftitulcd    and    pcrpctualetl   the 

I'ri'shytery  of  Londonderry. 

Notwithstandimr  the  destrtiction  of  their  house  of  wor- 
ship, the  l're<liyterians  in  Worcester  continued  for  some 
vears'to  sup|)ort  their  past(»r,  the  Kcv.  William  .lohnstoii. 
riie  date  of  his  ordination  does  not  apj)ear.  It  took  place 
ill  Worcester  hclwccn  17-'.>  and  17-".(t.  for  in  IT-''*  his  con- 
irri'.Mtion  ap|>ealed  '"to  the  justice  of  their  fellow-townsmen 
lor  relief  litxii  "  the  parish-tax  for  the  sujiporl  of  the  Con- 
irre^rationalist  niinisler,  and  while,  instead  of  reei-ivini^ 
c(iuity,  they  were  answered  with  "suhtilty  and  illiheral- 
ity,"  they  were  also  told  that  '"his  ordination  was  disor- 
(liiiicoln.'      How    U>n'-t   he   lahored    there   is   not 


<lerly.  ' 
known. 


hut   h 


peop 


douhtl 


ess,  hecaine   weary  oi  sup- 


piutinj;  hoth   their  own   pastor  and   the  parish  minister, 
uiitil,  owing  to  their  discouragement  and  general  disper- 


'} 
(    r 
I '    I 


! 


, 


,*• 


,'»li 


Wr 


90 


IlISTOUY    OK    ri{i;sHYTi:iUANISM 


pion.  lie  lin<l  fiiiMlly  to  loiivo  thoni.  Tlicir  clmrcli  ortrnni- 
ziitioii  MS  l*rcsl»yt»'ri,'iiis  cchsimI  within  iwciity-tivo  years 
ol"  their  first  sctthim-nt  in  the  town. 

It'  tohration  to  «'rr('t  their  house  of  worship  had  heen 
allowed  to  them,  they  wouM  jtrohahly,  in  a  tew  years, 
liav(!  hee(»ine"the  church  of  the  |)arish,"  instead  of  heiiv^ 
i\nt  o(;cu|)ants  ot"  the  "  ohl  j^arrison-house."  Their  cas<! 
Holvos  a  jtrohh-m  on  which  much  specuhition  has  existe<l, 
that  is,  the  harmonious  co-hahitation  ot"  I'reshyterianism 
and  ('onjireLrationalism. 

Many  |>ersons  iniaLMue  that  they  are  similar,  or,  as  they 
Hay,  "there  is  hetw«'en  them  only  a  little  dill'erenee,  only 
a  iittle  al)out  elunch  ^ovennnent — and  they  are  so  nearly 
identical  as  inutually  to  support  each  other,"  while  in 
reality  they  an;  irreconcilahly  antaL'onistical.  "  Ohey  them 
that  have  the  rule  over  you  and  suhndt  yourselves,  lor 
they  watch  for  your  souls,  as  they  that  must  n'wo  an  ac- 
count"— tirst  to  the  I'rcshytery,  and  finally  to  ''the  chief 
Shenhcrd,"  is  essentially  and  totidly  dillcrent  from,  "(Jo 
to,  let  us,"  or,  that,  "all  chur(;h  power  resides  in  the 
church,  and  not  in  church  oflicers ;  and  resides  in  each 
particular  church  directly  and  oritzinally,  hy  virtue  of  the 


express  or  nn| 


ilie.l 


compact  ot  Its  memhers.       .So  it  was 


then  in  New  Knixland  hetween  these  two  form.s  of  church 
gov((rnment.     So  it  is  now,  and  ever  must  h 


'I'liey  ar<'  distinct  species,  radically  dillcrent  and  esse 


n- 


tially  opposed  to  each  other.  Coiiseipicntly,  so  lonj;  as 
liny  (!onj;reifations  were  kept  purely  I'reshyterian,  they 
])rospcre(l  as  such,  and  just  so  soon  as  this  form  of  re;„dmeii 
was  ahated  or  i;.rnore(l,  ('on^^regationalism  controlled  the 
j)arish. 

We  have  in  Mllford,  New  Haven  county,  one  of  those 
ehurches.  which  came  to  I'reshyterianism.  The  Kev, 
Samuel  Whittlesey  was  settled  here  in  l)(C('mher,  17')7, 
and  "  rc;.rarde(l  as  unsound  in  docliine"  hy  a  considcrahle 
minority  of  the  people,  who  professe*!  themselves  to  hi; 
Preshytcrians  accordim;  to  the  Church  of  Scotland,  they 
left  th(!  State  rdiuion,  and  the  I'reshytery  of  New  liruns- 
wick  took  them  under  its  care.  The  Rev.  Samuel  Kind- 
ley,  aft<'rwards  ['resident  of  the  (.'oUej^e  of  New  Jersey, 
was  sent  to  preach  to  tlu^m.  Uut  the  conj;rej_'ation  had 
not  obtained  recognition,  either  by  the  civil  or  ccclesiuisti- 


IN    NKW    KNOI.AND. 


5)1 


ml  .'lutlinritios  ns  a  n'liL'ioim  poricty;  nn<l  for  thr  ftfTcrn'o 
of  |ir';icliiti^'  to  them,  tlic  Doctor  was  iiidictJMl,  nrn'strd 
:ni<l  s('Ht<nc<<l  to  lie  tr;iiis|tort('(l,  ;ir  a  Viitrraiit  and  a  dis- 
tiirhcr  of  tin'  |>nl»lic  jtrMcc,  out  of  the  colotiy. 

In  1717  Mr.  .lol)  I'niddcn  w.-is  liy  tlw  simic  IVosbytrry 
ord;iiin'd  and  installed  their  |>astor.  The  j)eople,  however, 
(•ontiniu'd  to  he  t:ixed  for  the  sii|t|t(irt  of  the  jiMfish  minis- 
ter. The  Stiite,  while  it  then  exempted  fntm  such  taxa- 
tion eert.'iin  reliirioMs  societies,  <luly  ;i\ithori/,ed  to  hiivo 
worship  in  their  own  Wiiy,  refuse(l  to  exempt  seecdinj.^ 
('on<_'re>jjition;dists  ;ind  l*reshyteri;ins.  In  17o<l  they  wero 
released  fntm  t heir  hnrden  ;  ten   years  later  thev  ohtained 


an  ineorp<»ration  from  the  Leiiislature  as  the  se<'ond  eccle- 
siastical society  in  Milford,  and  their  connection  with 
I'reshytery  ceased.  (Tnnnhull.  Hist.  ( 'oim.,  vol. 'J.  pp. 'VJo- 
;>.)'.>.)  i'rudden  was  a  lahorious.  prudent  and  faithful  pas- 
tor, sound  in  doctrine  and  experimental  in  his  jireachm;^. 
His  talents,  metUness  and  ]»iety,  ^ave  innversal  satisfac- 
tion to  his  |MMi|)le.  lie  died  June  21th,  177-1.  (  H. )  Cases 
of  such  expediency  are  n  latively  nmnerous. 

Not  only  I'orpooduc  and  Worcester  hut  also  Chrstor  in 
New  Hampshire  now  hp;;an  to  manifest  the  truth  of  this 
position.  'I'his  town,  contiguous  to  Kondonderrv,  was 
settled  lirst  hy  I'reshyterians,  and  from  17.''>(ltill  1734  they 
had  the  sorvi(!es  of  the  Kev.  Moses  Hale  in  the  ('on^'rej.M- 
tional  way,  as  the  parish  minister,  some  of  the  townsmen 
who  came  to  it  from  time  to  time  heiuL'  of  that  order. 

In  17'M,  however,  the  I'reslivtj-rians  lindin;;  themselves 
ahle  to  su|)|)(a't  him,  had  the  l\'V.  John  Wilson*  s«'ttled 
over  them,  "after  the  rules  of  the  Church  of  Scotland." 

In  17'I(>,  after  resistinj:,  as  far  as  practicahic,  the  settle- 
ment of  till!  Kev.  Mhene/.er  I'^laj/LS  as  a  Coni^reuMtionalist 
minister  there,  the  Preshyterians  were  c<»mpelled  hy  law 
to  support  him  also.  Many  of  them  refused  to  pay  tho 
tax  for  his  sujtport.  l''or  this  'wo  of  them,  .lames  Camp- 
hill  and  Thomas  Tolford,  we;e  put  in  jail  at   Kxeter,  hy 

*  His  fatlicr,  llu'  Krv.  .T<iliii  ^V'Isoll,  caiiu'  fri»m  IrclaiKl,  ami  wa^<  rr- 
(vivcd  liytln'SyiKMl  of  I'liilaililpltia  in  17'J!).  "On  Jamiarv  I'Tlli,  I7:!(l, 
till'  i'nsiiytcry  (if  Ntwcaslii'  nirivctl  a  U'ltt-r  from  Aiiiia;;li  i'ri-.-hyliiv 
(•oiurniiti);  liiiii,  and  llicy  rcsulvi-d  iioi  to  i-iiijiloy  liiiii.  lit-  iviiiovni 
WM)ii  afit  r  to  Huston,  mul  dii-d  iIktc  on  Januarv  Gtli,  ITolJ,  aged  Hixty- 
Mix  voar.s."     (\V.) 


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II 


92 


HISTORY   OF    PRESBYTERIANISM 


the  town  collector.  They  afterwards  obtained  a  decision 
in  law  in  their  favor  and  were  released.  Taking  encour- 
agement from  this,  the  Presbyterians,  in  IToS,  erected  a 
meeting-house,  and  persevering  in  sustaining  the  pvstor 
and  worship  of  their  choice,  they,  by  im])ortuning  the 
liCgislature,  were,  in  1740,  allowed  cor])orate  powers,  and 
after  this  date  se|)arate  congregations  (one  of  each  order) 
were  niivintained  in  Chester  for  many  years.  The  Rev. 
Mr.  Wilson  preached  in  this  town  for  forty-five  years. 
(N.  H.  Gaz.)  This  case  also  fairly  illustrates  the  irrecon- 
cilable nature  of  these  two  systems  of  church  government, 
and  things  which  differ  should  always  be  distinguished. 

In  doctrine,  at  this  date,  Presbyterianism  and  New  Eng- 
land Congregationalism  differed  very  little,  as  the  latter 
was,  as  yet,  Calvinistic  in  her  theology.  The  New  Eng- 
land Primer  was  the  basis  of  instruction  in  the  pulpits,  in 
the  family  and  in  the  daily  schools.  Witness  Prince's 
Thursday  lectures  on  the  Shorter  Catechism,  in  the  Old 
South  Church  in  Boston,  for  several  years. 

In  ivorship  the  difference  became  increasingly  greater 
wth  time.  The  Presbyterians,  now  expatriated  from  their 
r  .tive  homes,  had  for  above  two  generations  cherished 
with  sacred  affection  the  songs  of  Zion,  and  sang  in  their 
families  and  churches  only  the  book  of  Psalms,  in  the 
version  appointed  (to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  poetry) 
by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  to  be 
sung  by  her  congregations.  This  version  had  been,  after 
careful  examination  by  her  Presbyteries,  adopted  and  ex- 
clusively authorized  by  the  Kirk  on  May  1st,  1650. 

In  later  times,  by  ignorance,  ])rejudice  and  bigotry,  it 
has  been  called  "  Rouse,"  because  many  of  the  ])salms 
were,  after  revision,  adopted  from  his  metrical  translation 
of  a  part  of  the  Psalter.  While  the  Pilgrims  had  brought 
with  them  to  Plymouth  Rock,  in  1(520,  Ainsworth's  ver- 
sion ;  and  the  Puritans  had,  with  their  Episcopal  service, 
brought  the  version  of  Plopkins  and  Sternhold  to  Shaw- 
mut  in  l().'->0,  when  these  last  turned  a  soniersault ;  in  1(>1*) 
the  Rev.  Messrs.  Mather,  Eliot  and  ^^'el(l  were  ap])()int(  il 
to  make  a  new  version,  which  they  c<^m))leted  in  lour 
years.  To  print  this,  the  first  press  was  brought  to  the 
colony. 

After  the  Freeman's  oath  and  an  almanac,  their  version 


1 

I 

I 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


93 


try,  it 

isiilnis 

'■^ 

latiou 

■*i 

(m<i:lit 

s  ver- 

'''«' 

'vvice, 

^■• 

Shiuv- 

1  uvr,'\ 

';,c 

iiiiiti  il 

1    liiur 

Lu  the 

of  the  Psalms  was  pu1>]isherl  in  1640,  anrl  was  the  first 
hook  printed  in  this  ])art  of  North  Arnorica,  books  having 
Ix'cn  previously  printed  in  Mexico.     (Thomas.) 

This  version^  was  called  "the  Bay  State  Psalm-Book." 
It  passed  throuujh  at  k^ast  ei<rhty-six  editions  before  it 
was,  in  the  next  century,  supplanted  by  "the  Psalms  of 
David,  imitated  in  the  language  of  the  New  Testament  by 
Isaac  Watts,  D.  D."  The  matter  which  men  emi)loy  in 
})raise  to  God  often,  or  usually,  forms  a  correct  index  of 
their  ac(iuaintance  with  "  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,"  and 
of  their  living  under  "  the  i)o\ver  of  an  endless  life,"  or 
otherwise.  Hence,  tersely  said  Matthew  Henry,  "con- 
verting grace  makes  men  very  fond  of  the  Psalms  of 
David."  The  Puritans  in  the  course  of  a  century  added 
to  this  \'ersion  of  the  Psalms  several  pieces  from  the  other 
scriptures,  susceptible  of  a  poetical  rendering,  and  when 
it  was  reprinted  in  Scotland  these  poems  were  bound  up 
with  the  Bible  and  with  the  Psalms.  The  title-page  might 
shock  the  nervous  system  of  the  devotees  of  modern  "  cul- 
ture," and  runs  thus,  as  I  have  copied  it  from  a  Bible 
printed  in  1755  :  "  The  psalms,  hymns  and  spiritual  songs 
of  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  faithfully  translated  into 
English  metre,  for  the  use,  edification  and  comfort  of  the 
saints,  in  pubHc  and  in  private,  especially  in  New  Eng- 
land, 2  Tim.  iii.  16,  17;  Col.  iii.  16;  Eph.  v.  18,  19;  Jas. 
V.  lo.  The  twentieth  edition,  Edinburgh,  printed  by 
Adrian  Watkins,  His  Majesty's  Printer,  1754."  If  our 
modern  sentimental  New  England  hymnologists,  per- 
meated with  "  culture,"  will  condescend  to  read  this  title, 
I  fear  they  might  in  future  swear  by  Darwin. 

A  co])y  of  the  second  edition  is  preserved  in  the  library 
of  Harvard  College.  But  two  copies  of  the  first  edition  are 
known  to  be  in  existence,  and  of  it  eighty-six  or  more  edi- 
tions were  published.  Destitute  as  it  would  now  be  con- 
sidered of  elegance,  it  formed  the  matter  of  praise  to  the 
pious  Congregational ists  in  New  England  for  generations, 
and  of  it  the  immortal  Jonathan  Edwards  said  in  1735 : 
"God  was  then  served  in  our  })salmody."  But  the  mental 
insta])ility  incident  to,  or  inherent  in  Congregationalism, 
which  that  good  man  deplored  in  1737,  induced  the  minis- 
ters of  Roxbury,  Mass.,  to  agitate  the  setting  aside  of  this 
version  and  the  introduction  of  that  of  "  Tate  and  Brady," 
which  had  been  first  published  in  London  in  1698. 


'I 


1 


'.    • 


"  I  I 


f 


SBiSHMl 


94 


HISTORY   OF  PRESBYTERIAXISM 


1 

i  '■'■!' 

,  „''i 

\4 

■    : 

■| 

The  question  of  the  identity  of  these  two  species  of 
church  government  in  (liscipUne  was  tii;it  on  which,  in 
17'5(),  the  Presbytery  of  Londonderry  wus  ruinously  di- 
vided— the  our  [)art  recognizing  tiie  action  of  a  council  as 
right  in  suHpendiv;/  the  Rev.  iMr.  liillhonse  from  the  minis- 
try and  compelling  him  to  leave  his  pastoral  charge,  the 
other  considering  it  "a  Jesuitical  "  transaction. 

To  "the  trutii  as  it  is  in  Jesus,"  to  the  "olfering"  of  a 
"pure"  worship  to  Jehovah,  to  the  ])urity  and  increase  of 
the  church  of  Christ,  it  would,  under  die  influences  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  through  "the  word,''  ])rove  an  inestimable 
blessing  if  these  radical  landmarks  were  understandingly 
observed  throughout  Christendom. 

Men  would  then  walk  together  only  so  far  as  they  were 
agreed,  and  our  modern  Joab  and  Amasa  charity,  "Art 
thou  in  health,  my  brother?"  and  then  stab  "him  under 
the  fifth  rib,"  would,  like  Adam,  run  and  hide.  The  ten- 
dency now  is  in  an  opposite  direction. 


IN   NEW  ENGLAND. 


95 


i 


M 


CHAPTER  III. 

1718-1743 — A  thrifty  branch — Practical  Godliness — Trregnhirities— 
Sessional  Records  Ijiiriit — An  increase — Bhindf'ord  larjjely  Irisii— Re- 
liiiious  \'i('is-i tildes — Whitetieid — Tennaiit — Davenport — An  Earth- 
(jiiake  ill  1727 — Alarm  wore  oil — Novelty  and  P^lotjiience  of  White- 
field — "Aiiplaiided  by  about  one-fifth  of  the  Clergymen  of  New  Eng- 
land "  —  Wondrous  work  —  An  unfrnitful  ministry  —  Aroused — 
I'.nmpteil — lOdwards  at  Enfield — "Shy  of  it" — Communion  four 
times  each  year  in  Mooreliead's  Church — Whitefield  assisted  him 
once — ''  Rotation  " — Stood  aloof — Irregularities — Declension — Relig- 
ion, what  it  became  then — Discijiline  neglected — A  dead  letter — 
Cliurclu's  of  New  Englaixl  before  "' the  awakening" — Vitalizing  in- 
stnicliiiiis  of  Edwards — "On  their  lees  " — A  dull  routine — f^ceptical  — 
"The  Church  of  the  Parish" — Trances  and  revelations — The  Scrip- 
tures a  dead  letter — Screaming — Faiiitin<;s — Conversion  —  Psalms  set 
aside  by  Davenport — Men  less  cart'ful—"  Separatists" — Benjamin 
Franklin — Turnell's  dialogue— Dr.  Coleman — Caldwell — Letters  to 
Scutiand — Antinomianism — Attestations  to  llie  revival — Harvard 
College,  Prol'essors  of,  against  it — Retractions — Presbytery  prospered 
in  some  towns — Churches  formed — The  Press  not  employed  by  Pres- 
byterians, except  by  LeMercier — "  The  wrath  of  man." 


iii 


..■  '     I  !     1 

!       !|     ! 

il    I 


i: 


Sucir  was  then  the  condition  of  tlio  Presbyterian  churches 
ecclesiastically  in  New  Entiland  at  the  end  of  the  first 
quarter  of  a  century  after  the  emigration  of  .1718. 

They  continued  separated  from  Congregationalism,  and 
a  two-thirds  majority  of  their  Preshytery  had  (by  an  abuse 
of  authority)  suspended  tiie  others  I'rom  their  ministry. 
To  them,  however,  their  })eo])le  remained  attached,  and  in 
a  f(!W  years  a  more  thrifty  branch  sprang  up  in  the  form 
of  a  Prcsliytery.  Witii  the  exce))tion  of  tiie  Rev.  iNIr. 
Rutherford,  wlio  was  susj^iccted  of  '"  new  light,"  the  minis- 
tors  ap])ear  to  have  ;dl  been  doctrinally  sound  according  to 
the  Westminster  Standards.  In  ])ractical  godliness  thev 
were  generally  ])re-eminent.  In  their  attendance  on  the 
means  of  grace,  in  private  and  in  public,  the  i)eo))le  were 
punctual  and  exemplary,  as  we  see  abundantly  shewn 
during  this  period  by  the  history  of  the  church  in  London- 


er 


« 


96 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


li^ 


1  i_ 

IL. 

(lorry,  N.  H.  It  mnst  not,  houevor.  he  conccnled  that  not 
ji  low  of  thoni  nuini tost 0(1  irro<jfulnritios  oi"  a  criminal 
chaniotor  in  youth,  and  hrou<iht  njion  thomsolves  the 
(hscro(ht  of  (hs('ii)Hiu!  ity  thoir  sessions — as  woll  as  a  sonse 
of  criniinahty  and  shame,  which  memory  preserves  and 
time  cannot  ohlitorato. 

In  one  clmrch  at  least  so  numerous  -wore  the  records  of 
antenu))tial  crimes  that  tlie  minutes  of  the  session,  even 
Avlien  wrontrfully  ol)taine(l,  were  hy  an  Unitarian  pastor 
favored  ( like  IIuss  and  Jerome  of  Prague)  witli  "  a  warm  re- 
cejition."  The  "  culture  "  of  the  nineteenth  century  de- 
manded tins. 

Beside  those  arising  to  them  annually  from  their  own 
youth,  each  year  hrought  to  their  churches  from  tlieir  na- 
tive lands  an  increase  of  memhership.  In  1741  the  Rev. 
William  INIcClentdian  left  tlie  Province  of  Maine  and  came 
to  Blandford,  i\Iass.,  i)reviously  (tailed  New  Glasgow,  where 
lie  was  afterward  settled.  A  church  had  heen  organized 
there  in  1735  hy  the  Rev.  Thom'as  Prince,  afterwards  pas- 
tor of  the  Old  South  Clmrch,  P>oston.  Ikit  the  i)eoj)]e 
were  nearly  all  Irish,  and  after  the  incorporation  of  the 
town  on  A})ril  loth,  1741,  they  determined  to  have  a 
Preshyterian  minister. 

Having  thus  soon  the  condition  of  these  "oppressed 
Irish  brethren  "  during  the  last  few  years  of  the  first  quar- 
ter of  a  century  of  their  residence  in  New  England,  we 
now  turn  to  some  of  the  religious  vicissitudes  through 
which  they  i)assed,  induced  hy  their  surroimdings. 

The  country  in  the  southern  and  central  colonies  had 
been  visited,  and  in  ])arts  rc^visitod  ])y  tlie  renowned  White- 
field,  and  he  reached  Boston  in  Soptomhor,  1740.  He  was 
assisted  in  his  itinerant  and  revival  lal)ors  by  the  Rev. 
Gilbert  Tonnant,*  and  soon  l)()th  were  followed  by  the  Rev. 
James  Davenport,  of  Southfiold,  T.ong  Island. 

On  October  2yth,  1727,  N(;w  England  had  heen  visited 
by  an  earthquake  so  powerful  in  its  nature  as  to  exten- 
sively alarm,  and  in  connection  with  the  moans  of  grace, 
bring  not  a  few  of  the  people  to  a  more  solenui  i)ersonal 


*"He  was  ordained  in  1727,  and  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  first 
candidate  licensed  in  the  Presbyterian  Clmrch  in  America  who  waa 
educated  within  its  limits."     {Log  College,  p.  43.) 


IN   m:\v  ]:ngi.and. 


97 


;  i 


tough 


had 

'hite- 

-vvas 

Rev. 

Ucv. 

'isited 

}xton- 

rrace, 

i'isonal 


le  first 
ho  was 


inquiry  in  n^lation  to  their  s))iritual  welfare.  In  the 
course  of  ten  or  twelve  years  th(,'!?e  ini])ression«!  were  hy 
tliat  licnei'ation  measurably  I'ornottcMi,  and  ])rohiil)ly  were 
now  ainiiist  lost,  in  such  days  of  declension  the  atten- 
tion of  many  was  arrested  by  the  a])pearance  of  Whitctield. 
Tlie  novehy  of  his  manner  and  his  i)Owerful  eloquence  at- 
tracted lar^v  audien(;es,  and  as  he  visited  the  prominent 
towns  and  villages  in  the  (;olonies,  his  influence  became 
very  extensive.  lie  had  not  yet  (in  1740)  separated  from 
WeVley  (which  he  did  in  the  n(;xt  year). 

It  has  been  estimated  that  ])roba])ly  by  about  one-fifth 
of  the  clergymen  of  Mew  England  he  was  welcomed  and 
a])plau(led. 

Tlu!  doctrine  of  the  Congregationalist  churches  was  at 
this  date  still  generally  Calvinistic,  consequently  Rev. 
^Tessrs.  Thomas  I'rinee,  Jolm  Webb  and  A\'illiam  Cooper, 
«)f  Jjoston,  who  were  the  warm  advocates  of  the  revival,  not 
only  described  it  on  January  I'Jth,  1742,  as  "the  wondrous 
work  of  God  making  its  triun)phant  jjrogress  through  the 
land,"'  but  they  also  declared  that  "  in  vain  do  its  remain- 
ing enemies  attemijt  to  brand  it  as  enthusiasm."  Thev 
then  state,  "  We  are  glad  that  our  brethren  from  Ireland 
agree  with  us  on  the  Shorter  Catechism."  Yet  at  this 
]»t'riod,  while  the  doctrine  of  the  churclies  was  extensively 
Calvinistic,  the  union  of  Cnurch  and  State  was  operating 
in  n)any  cases  to  jiroduce  an  unfruitful  ministry,  if  not  a 
lifeless  formality,  and  both  })astors  and  peoi>le  were  now, 
at  least  partially,  aroused  to  in([uiry. 

In  view  of  tli(>  resnlts  of  the  labors  of  Messrs.  Whitefield, 
Tennant  and  I)aven})ort.  some  of  the  most  powerful  and 
sanctified  minds  in  the  land  (such  as  that  of  Jonathan 
Edwards)  were  promi)ted  to  greater  diligence  in  the  work 
of  the  ministry.  Not  only  did  he  "  cry  aloud  and  spare 
not"  in  his  own  charge  in  Northampton,  Mass.,  but  he  to 
some  extent  itinerated. 

Among  the  many  ]>laces  which  he  visited  none  was 
more  highly  favored  by  the  blessing  of  heaven  upon  his 
labors  than  Enfield,  Conn.,  where,  on  July  8th,  1741,  from 
the  words,  "  Their  feet  shall  slide  in  due  time,"*  he  was 


*  A  ooiiforcnce  of  Baptist  ministers  in  Boston  in  October,  1880,  after 
discussli:,";  the  .subject,  euncluded  that  "  it  would  not  be  for  edification  to 
7 


r :« 


J 


M        !   i    ! 


•  i 


-i^l. 


Ill* 


i 
i 

j] 

lii 

i:     *    P 

1      ;i 

..i,  .,^    :„ 

98 


HISTORY   OF   PRKSnYTEUIANISM 


instrumental  in  awakening  hundreds  from  spiritual 
lethargy. 

V.'hen  this  revival  of  1740-4  coniTnenced  in  New  Eng- 
land, Mr.  Moorehead  was  "shy  of  it,"  but,  when  its  elle(;ts 
were  more  extensively  exhibited,  he,  witli  the  Kev.  D.  Me- 
Gregore  entered  zealously  inti)  the  measures  adopted  for 
jjrospering  it. 

In  his  ehurch,  the  saerament  of  the  Lord's  supi)er  was 
usually  disi)ensed  four  times  in  the  year.  After  his  sus- 
])ensi()n  in  17o(),  he  was  generally  assisted  by  the  liev. 
Mr.  MeGregore.  When  the  Presbyterian  form  is  con- 
sidered, and  it  is  remembered,  that  the  services  were  con- 
tinued from  Thursday  forenoon  till  Monday  afternoon 
(with  the  exception  of  Friday^,  it  will  be  seen  that  aid  in 
the  })ulpit  became  necessary.  He  availed  himself  of  the 
opportunity,  and  had  on  one  sacramental  season,  the  as- 
sistance of  the  Kev.  George  W'hitefield.  His  meeting-liouse 
tlien  was  tlie  old  "  barn,"' which  John  l^ittle  liad  "con- 
verted into  a  house  of  worshij),"  and  to  which  building 
the  congregation  had  before  this  date — between  1735  and 
1741 — 'added  two  wings."  In  "this  rude  and  lowly  edi- 
fice," (Mem.  Fedl.  St.  Ch.,)  at  this  date,  1740-1,  even  his 
own  growing  congregation  could  with  difficulty  be  accom- 
modated. "  On  this  occasion  the  house  could  not  contain 
the  audience,  and  the  doors  and  windows  were  lilled 
with  the  spectators,"  especially  on  the  Sabbath,  when 
"each  minister  served  a  table  in  rotation." 

It  was  now  a  little  unusual  to  see  the  position  of  ^loore- 
head  and  McCJregore.  They  had,  in  1786,  been  suspended 
by  the  Presbytery.  This  had  the  elTect  (according  to  Lc- 
Mercier)  of  preventing  any  of  the  Congregational ist  min- 
isters for  years  from  preaching  in  exchange  with  Moore- 
head, if  they  ever  had  done  so,  yet,  now  the  majority 
of  the  ministers  of  the  town  received  him  as  a  fellow- 
worker  in  the  revival — while  from  it,  from  year  to  year, 
the  whole  remanent  members  of  the  original  Presbytery 
stood  aloof.     In  this  respect,  as  Presbyterians,  taking  part 


have  any  man  preach  such  a  sermon  from  tliat  text  to-day."  It  was  nn 
Old  Testament  text,  and  they  are  in  the  lust  iiuartcr  of  "  the  nincteeiitli 
century."  A  sermon  from  that  text  must  be  "  dark  and  Jewish  and 
cloudy."  The  times  are  changed,  and  such  men  are  changed  with  them, 
while  truth  is  unchangeable. 


IN     NKW    ENGLAND. 


99 


•with  tliootluTS  who  assoc'iiitod  with  Mr.  WhitcfiolH,  Mooro- 
licud  ;in<l  McCire^ore  were  aloiu'.  'I'iicir  jjrcvious  unhaiiiiy 
action  in  snsi)on(linL:  Moorehuad  and  Harvey  and  iiinorint!; 
the  ordination  of  Mc(  JrcLrorc  would  (h)ul)tl('ss  iironipt  hi- 
^IvTcivr,  Davidson,  UutLcrrord,  Wilson,  McClonahan.  l)un- 
lap,  and  Johnston  to  avoid  such  associations,  or  ministers, 
as  would  join  in  fcllowshi))  with  them. 

]}('side  this,  howt-ver,  other  iniluenees  were  in  O])oration. 
As  will  he  suhse(iuently  seen,  many  irre<rularities  and  ex- 
cesses suhversive  of  decency  and  order,  judging  from  a 
Presl)yterian  standi)oint,  attended  the  "awakening," 

Some  of  them,  as  licMercier,  Wilson,  and  Davidson, 
mi_dit  fear  the  disturhanee  of  their  parochial  peace,  and 
dreading  the  iniluenees  of  excitement  on  the  growth  in 
sjiiritual  knowh'dge  and  mental  stahility  of  tlieir  j)astoral 
charges,  stand  aloof  tVom  its  supporters.  From  whatever 
cause,  they  gave  tlie  ''  awakening ''  no  encouragement.  By 
others,  it  was  hailed  with  joy. 

"  Deep  declension  was  now  pervading  many  of  the  New 
England  Congregational  churclies." 

The  Puritanism  of  Shepard,  Cotton,  Norton,  Mitchell, 
Hooker,  and  Htone  was  now.  under  an  increasing  worldly 
prosperity,  diminishing  in  spirituality.  Godliness  was 
manifestly  declining.  Religion  hecame  more  of  an  outward 
jn-ofession  and  less  the  reality  of  "newness  of  life."  Be- 
tween the  church  and'  the  world,  the  ditference  was  fast 
diminishing.  The  eldership  were  more  lightly  esteemed. 
Their  ofHce,  work  and  "faces  were  not  honored"  as  in 
times  past. 

Church  discipline  v/as  increasingly  neglected.  Immorali- 
ties grew  apace. 

"The  preaching  became  less  discriminating  and  pun- 
gent. The  doctrines  of  the  ancient  faith,  long  neglected, 
and  reduced  in  the  minds  of  the  people  to  n  dead  letter, 
were  fast  gliding  away  from  the  popular  creed,  and  were 
on  the  eve  of  being  displaced  for  another  system. 

"Such  was  the  condition  of  a  large  j)ortion  of  the  churches 
of  New  England  when  the  great  awakening  broke  upon 
them  in  its  power."  (Stearns.)  Under  the  faithful  preach- 
ing of  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Edwards,  at  Northampton,  the 
covenants  both  of  works  and  of  grace  were  exhibited  to 
sinners  in  their  connections  and  dependencies.     The  Holy 


'it 


rill 


1=' 


i 


i     . 

i  P 

■i 
t 


Hi 


■■■'       '     . 
W    ■      - 


|i| 


100 


IIISTOUY  OF   PRKSnYTERIANISM 


III  ^^ 


! 

■ 

! 

'       1'- 

il.' 

Spirit  owned  his  own  trutli,  and  in  the  salvation  of  niim- 
hcjrs  honored  his  own  worch 

Edwards  was  sctthd  in  that  town  in  Fehruarv,  1727,  and 
Ins  vitahzinu;  instrnctions  had  uinU'r  the  Divine  hh'ssinj^ 
])crvaded  his  jK'oplc;  extensively  helbre  Wiiitelield  visited 
these  eastern  eolonies.  "  Under  the  preaching  ot"  Wliitc- 
iieid  and  Tennant  the  impnlse  s])ruad  rajiidly,  even  to  tlie 
remote  villages  and  rural  distriets,  as  well  as  to  the  larger 
anil  commercial  towns.  Saj's  the  Rev.  Jona.  F.  Stearns, 
whom  I  freely  quote  (Hid.,  Di^^.,  p.  8):  "C-hurchc^s 
which  had  long  *  settled  upon  their  lees'"  now  hegan  to  feel 
within  them  a  strong  fermentation.  Old  .vspectahility, 
proud  of  its  decent  forms,  began  to  lind  the  sceptre  of  its 
influence  loosening  in  its  grasp,  and  the  legitimacy  of 
its  long  dominion  boldly  ([Ucstioned,  hy  a  people,  })rofess- 
ing  to  have  been  just  now  turned  from  "darkness  into 
marvellous  light."  The  efl'ect  of  this  new  impulse  fell,  as 
might  have  been  expected,  most  heavily  upon  the  pastors 
of  the  churches. 

Secure  of  their  support,  by  the  aid  of  the  civil  law 
pledging  all  the  real  and  personal  estate,  witliin  certain 
geographical  limits,  for  the  fulfilment  of  their  pecuniary 
contracts  (destitute  of  the  supervision  of  scriptural  Pres- 
bytery, and  of  all  courts  of  reference,  appeal,  or  review), 
and  ministering  to  a  people  not  desirous  of  great  pastoral 
fidelity,  to  the  disturbance  of  their  &luml)ering  consciences, 
a  large  part  of  them  had  settled  down  into  a  dull  routine 
of  Sabbath  day  performances,  and  were  spending  their 
week-day  hours,  when  not  employed  in  the  preparation 
of  their  hasty  discourses,  in  the  improvement  of  their 
parsonage  lands,  the  indulgence  of  their  literary  tastes, 
or  in  friendly  correspondence  and  in  social  intercourse 
■with  each  other,  and  with  those  distinguished  men  in  civil 
life,  who  courted  their  society  and  respected  their  respec- 
tability, or  sought  to  avail  themselves  for  their  own  pur- 
poses of  their  unbounded  influence. 

Many  of  the  ministers  of  tiiat  day,  it  is  supposed,  were 
men  who  had  never  experienced  in  their  own  hearts  the 
power  of ''  the  faith  "  which  they  professed  to  teach. 

Not  a  few  had  become  very  sceptical  in  regard  to  the 
inspiration  of  the  Holy  Scriptures ;  and  one  evil  of  the  law 
was,  that  by  a  majority  vote  a  Calvinistic  minority  were 


Ji....  ,.l 


IN    NEW    KNTiLAND. 


101 


roiiipollod  to  siii)port  an  Arniinian  or  P(^la,^ian  toaolior.  or 
if  llicv  built  ail  house  lor  tliciuselvcs  on  the  volunlnry 
principle,  tlicy  wore  still  taxed  U)  support  "the  church  of 
the  ));irish."'  Thus,  in  seasons  o|'  deelension,  the  law  he- 
came  an  instrument  ot"  oppression  iu  the  followers  o(  the 
Puritan  doctrines. 

As  we  hav(>  seen,  ahout  one-fifth  of  the  ministry  hailed 
the  arrival  of  Whitetield  and  Tennant ;  hut  of  the  others, 
at  least  not  a  few,  oi)posed  the  "  awakenini:;." 

In  their  visits  to  the  leadinj^  towns  and  villa.u;es  of  New 
I'aii^land,  they  were  i'ollowed  by  the  Rev.  James  Daven- 
jiort.  Of  him  tin;  Rev.  Mr.  W — n,  of  FarmiuLiton,  Connecrt- 
ieut,  in  which  colony  he  labored  much,  says:  ''Laying; 
yreat  stress  on  trances,  visions,  revelations  and  impulses, 
speaking  of  the  Holy  Seri])turcs  as  a  dead  letter,  and  that 
it  was  not  worth  while  for  tlu>  unconvert('(l  to  consult 
them  ;  encouraging  negroes  and  the  most  ignorant  of  tho 
jieople  to  become  exhorters,  even  in  considerable  assem- 
blies, and  women  to  become  teachers.  Laying  such  weight 
on  their  agonies,  screaming  out,  convulsions,  faintings, 
etc.,  etc.,  wherein'  the  worship  of  God  is  disturlnid,  and, 
suddenly,  when  they  came  out  of  them,  with  some  seem- 
ing joy,  declaring  their  conversion."  As  Mr.  Davenport 
set  light  by  the  "  Holy  Scriptures  as  a  dead  letter,  and  that 
it  was  not  wortli  while  for  the  unconverted  to  consult 
them,"  so  he  carried  out  his  measures  by  introducing 
human  ])oetry  to  excite  appro|)riate  feelings,  r(>jeeting  tho 
songs  of  Zion,  "  written  not  with  ink  only,  but  with  and 
by  the  Spirit  of  the  living  (Jod."  Hence,  coivtinues  Mr. 
W — n,  "thrusting  out,  and  bringing  in  a  reproach  uj)ou 
our  sacred  ])salmody,  by  bringing  hymns  into  the  worship 
of  (Jod  of  a  mere  human  composure." 

Up  till  this  ])eriod  the  Psalms  alone  were  the  matter  of 
])raise  used  in  the  public  formal  worship  of  God,  but  now 
the  agitation  of  the  churches  made  men  less  careful  about 
the  Divine  landmarks.  Copies  of  the  imitations  of  the 
V]\)  of  the  Ps.alms,  which  the  Rev.  Dr.  Watts  had  finished 
in  A.  I).  1718,  were  from  time  to  time  imported  and  used 
inider  the  grace  of  better  rhythm  and  l)eautics  of  smoother 
jioetry  (while  he  did  not  pretend  that  they  were  a /m>j,s'- 
latinn,  verdon,  or  copy  of  the  sacred  original,  but  only  an 
imitation,  the  Psalms  of  David  imitated  in  the  language 


M 


i    I 


I! 

■t 


102 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


^;l 


llliii^' 


fliiwiiiiii^ 


of  the  Now  Tc'.stam('nt\  yet,  as  tliis  autlior  was  an  avowed 
(Icfeiuler  and  a  l)()astc!(l  oniaiuent  of  indopenclcncy,  if  not 
of  ('()nLM'(';!;;itioniilisni,  the  Uev.  Mr.  Mtither  said,  in  ad- 
drL'ssin^  him,  '"  Is  this  an  an^cl,  or  a  Watts  that  sinys?" 

It  is  prohahh;  tliat,  havinir  drunk  so  lon;^  the  old  wino 
of  the  pure  word,  the  New  En;,dand  ehurelies  wouhl  not 
yet,  for  years,  liave  said,  the  new  wine  of  the  l.'ii)  iniita- 
ti<>ns  is  hc'tler,  but  they  were  |)roi)ahly  extensively  used 
by  Mr.  Whitelield,  and  they  suited  the  views  and  aims  of 
^ir.  Davenport  and  the  other  ''separatists." 

Consequently  a  demand  was  created  for  them,  and  in 
1741,  a  Mr.  Edwards  puljlisiied  at  Dock  .S(4uare  in  Boston, 
of  them  the  first  American  edit'  )n.  His  "  three  books  of 
liynms"were  not  scriptural  enou<i;h  to  warrant  the  pub- 
lication of  them  in  New  Kn;j;land  as  yet,  but  Benjamin 
Franklin,  who  thoujiht  it  as  well  for  his  father  to  "  bles.s 
the  whole  barrel "  of  meat  "  at  once,"  keenlv  saw  how  tho 
tide  was  flowing,  and  that  a  market  for  them  was  spring- 
ing up  in  connection  with  the  rc'ligious  movements  of  tho 
day.  Conseciuently  in  1741,  at  Philadelphia,  he  published 
of  them  the  first  American  edition. 

The  introduction  of  both  the  imitations  and  his  hymns, 
especially  the  latter,  was  in  strong  opposition  to  the  Puri- 
tan feeling  of  the  jjeriod.  "  Plence,"  says  Turnell's  Dia- 
logue (published  in  1742),  ]).  13,  "  we  are  much  obliged 
to  Watts  and  others.  What  I  am  against  is  every  preacher 
bringing  what  hynnis  and  sonnets  he  pleases,  to  be  sung 
among  us.  I  have  reason  to  fear,  that  heresy  may  creep 
in  at  this  door." 

''A  few  years  ago,  when  some  worthy  ministers  (probably 
the  Congregationalist  ones  of  Roxbury,  aire  idy  mentioned) 
moved  for  another  translation  of  the  Psalms,  there  was 
made  a  loud  cry  of  innovation ;  but  now,  it  seems,  the 
Fsahns  themselves  may  be  almost  ivhoUij  laid  aside  in  private 
meetings  and  evening  lectures,  and  mere  human  compo- 
sures (and  some  of  them  low  enough,  too)  introduced 
without  much  opposition.  This  cannot  be  from  the  Spirit 
of  God,  who  will  ever  put  honor  on  the  word." 

The  same  feeling  was  expressed  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Cole- 
man of  Boston.  ^ 

AVhen  time  had  somewhat  enabled  him  to  see  the  fruits 
of  this  unscriptural  innovation,  he  wrote,  on  August  14thj 
1744,  to  the  Rev.  Solomon  Williams,  of  Lebanon,  thus : 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


103 


"T  honrtlly  wisli  tliat  no  nion^  liUDinn  liymns?  niny  1)o 
l>r()ii'ili(  into  tilt'  pulilic  \vorslii[)  of  (lod.  No,  not  the 
very  Ix'st  in  the  world,  even  tlio.se  of  Dr.  Wntts  hini.si'lf." 

Wo  thus?  sec  tiM'  hold  which  the  son^s  of  Jehovah  had 
for  iihovc  ii  ('cntnry  upon  the  Puritan  mind,  when  the 
soul  recoiled  at  the  idea  of  plaeinj;  "strange  lire  upon  the 
altar  of  (iod  "  in  praise,  even  while  it  mi^lit  he  the  "very 
l)est  mere  human  hynms  in  the  world."  "  How  has  the 
p)ld  hecome  dim  I  J  low  is  the  most  line  ^old  changed  !" 
\\'e  have  seen  that,  on  the  eharaeter  and  results  of  the 
''awakening',"  the  Presl)ytcrian  ministers  were  divided. 
The  Preshytery  a|»i)ear  to  have,  if  nt»t  op|)osed  it,  at  least 
to  have  taken  no  positive  interest  in  it.  One  of  their 
lunnher,  who  a))pears  to  have  joined  them  since  the  sus- 
]»ension  of  Moorehead  and  Harvey  (in  1786 ),  was  a  Mr. 
John  Caldwell,  of  whom,  jwinii;  to  the  loss  of  the  Records 
of  that  Preshytery,  we  know  but  little,  heside  the  fact,  that 
he  zealously  op'  ;ed  "the  awakenintj; "  and  its  authors, 
and  preached  ht-tore  the  Presl)ytery  in  the  French  Church 
a  sermon  on  "the  marks  of  false  prophets."  l^aven])ort 
was  at  this  time  in  a  frenzy  of  zeal,  animatinfj;  and  inereas- 
\\\\l  "  the  soparatinc:  brethren  and  sisters  in  Long  Island, 
Connecticut  and  Massachusetts."  "He  was  borne  away 
by  a  strange  enthusiasm  in  17-10-41.  He  encouraged  out- 
cries, l)y  wdiich  religion  was  disgraced.  His  voice  he 
raised  to  the  highest  pitch  and  gave  a  separate  tune  (tone) 
which  was  characteristic  of  the  separate  preachers.  In 
his  zeal  he  examined  ministers,  as  to  the  reality  of  their 
religion,  and  warned  the  peojile  against  unconverted  min- 
isters. Davenport  having  denounced  the  Boston  minis- 
tors  was  presented  to  the  grand  jury  and  by  them  declared 
to  be  insane.  (W.)  In  1742  the  Assembly  of  Connecticut 
directed  the  governor  to  transport  him  from  that  colony  to 
Southhold,  Long  Island.  He  i)ublished  a  retraction  and 
confession  in  1744  and  died  in  1755." 

On  his  departure  from  Boston,  in  1742,  Mrs.  Moorehead 
wrote  to  him  an  address  in  })oetry,  "  by  way  of  dream." 
In  a  pamphlet  of  eight  pages  16mo.,  she  not  only  praises 
Mr.  Davenport  and  "  censures  Mr,  Caldwell,"  but  also 
"addresses  a  sinner,"  saying: 

"  We  merit  nothing  but  our  utmost  cares, 
But  plead  the  scars  his  human  nature  wears." 


illji 


•    I 


i  ;i 


ii 


I 


104 


HISTORY   OF   PKESBYTEUIAXISM 


ill  If: 


111  I  }{'■*. 


ill 


1 

^ 

/* 

1  MliBiiiiiii 

In  the  moantiine  INIr.  Caldwell  labored  zealously  to 
counteract  wliat  he  l)elieved  to  be  a  wide-spreading  and 
dangerous  enthusiasm. 

In  1742  he  i)r(;aciied  and  published  in  Boston  a  sermon 
on  the  "trial  of  the  present  si)irit,"'  a  second  on  "the 
Scripture  character,  or  marks  oi'  false  teachers,"  and  a 
third  "against  uncharitable  judging." 

In  these  views  and  l;ibt)rs  he  a])[)ears  to  have  been  sus- 
tained by  the  Presbytery.  In  June,  1742,  he  received  by 
the  recommendation  of  their  ])astor,  the  Rev.  William 
Davidson,  I'rom  the  congregation  of  Dorry,  "a  little  help, 
tin  uu  of  eight  i)0unds,"  (Kec.  of  Sess.)  Letters  were 
written  to  Scotland  speaking  dis})aragingly  of  "the  awak- 
ening" and  its  results.  Hence,  sniil  the  Rev.  Joshua  Gee, 
of  Boston,  to  the  Rev.  Nathaniel  Iv'lls,  "The  shameful 
misrepresentations  of  the  state  of  religion  among  us,  whicli 
have  been  given  by  Mr.  A.  ]M.  ([jrobably  the  Rev.  Andrew 
LeMercier),  by  the  famous  ^Ir.  John  Caldwell  and  by  tlie 
Rev.  S.  Mather,  according  to  the  accounts  of  the  revival  in 
England,  which  come  to  us  from  Scotland,  seem  to  bo 
this:  that  since  Mr.  WhitelieUrs  coming,  antinomianism, 
familiaistical  errors,  enthusiasm,  gross  delusions  and  scan- 
dalous disorders  have  been  ])revailing  in  the  churches."' 
What  action  the  Presbytery  took,  or  what  deliverances  it 
gave  to  the  churches  under  its  care,  in  view  of  tlie  distrac- 
tions which  were  introduced  (from  the  loss  of  their  Re- 
cords), we  know  not,  only  we  see  that  C!aldwell  laboretl 
at  least  occasionally  in  Londonderry,  but  xMoorehead  and 
McGregor  (who  were  not  then  in  connection  with  any 
Presbytery)  joined  with  others  in  ap[>roving  the  entire 
movement.  Mr.  McGregor  preached  in  favor  of  the  awak- 
ening, and  })rinted  one  or  more  sermons  on  the  subject. 

On  July  7th,  174'3,  a  meeting  of  ministers  called  for  the 
purpose  of  approving  tlie  labors  of  Whitelield,  Tcnnant 
and  Davenport,  was  held  in  Boston.  Moorehead  was 
present  and  Joined  in  the  approval.  MeC}regor  could  not 
attend,  l)ut  afterwards  coneiu'red  l)y  letter,  saying,  "I  look 
upon  this  to  be  the  hapj)y  effects  of  Divine  inlhu'uces.  1 
have  seen  Itut  little  growth  of  antinomi;uiism  but  what 
arises  from  justilication  by  faitli  alone,  and  of  enthusiasm 
only  that  wliich  springs  from  the  witnessing  of  the  Si)irit."' 

At  that  moeting,  or  subsequently  by  letter,  there  were 


IN   NEW   ENGLAND. 


105 


given  in  nil  one  hundred  and  eleven  attestations  to  the  re- 
vival :  one  from  Rhode  Ishind,  ei<j;ht  ironi  New  Hampshire, 
twelve  from  Connecticut,  and  ninety  in  Massachusetts — 
and  of  these  only  two  wc'-c  uivcn  hy  I'l'cshyterians,  hy 
those  two  named.  Only  seventy  pastors  were  ])rescnt  at 
the  said  meetini^  of  approval.  Of  these  th.ivty-ei^ht  voted 
ill  the  allirmative.  ►Scarcely  one-third  of  the  pastors  were 
j)rrsent,  and  "  tiie  aw:d<enin,i:; "  was  favorahly  "attested  by 
less  tlian  one-tifth  of  the  pastors  of  Massachusetts." 

The  last  i)uhhshed  "  testimony  against  W'hitetield  and 
his  conthict"  was  l)y  the  professors  of  Harvard  College  on 
])eceinl)er  "JSth,  1744.  For  their  objections  they  gave  as 
reasons : 

"1st.  The  man  himself  was  enthusiastic,  censorious,  un- 
charitable, and  a  deluder  of  the  people.  2dly.  As  an  ex- 
tein|)()re  and  itinerant  ])reacher,  as  opposed  to  study  and 


to   meditation. 


Tlicv 


concUul(.' 


I»v  suuru'cstmu 


to   tl 


le 


})astors  and  associations  that  it  is  high  time  to  make  u 
stand  iigainst  tiiese  mischiefs  coming  on  the  churclies." 
Signed  liy  Edward  Holyoke,  President,  and  seven  Pro- 
lessi)rs. 

To  end  this  matter,  so  far  as  this  chai)ter  is  concerned, 
it  is  enough  to  state  that  in  1744  Mr.  Davenport  ])ublished 
his  confessions  and  retractions.  They  seem  to  have  l)een 
addressed  to  the  Uev.  Solomon  ^\'illiams,  of  Lebanon,  and 
were  by  Iiini  sent  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Prince,  of  Boston,  under 
date  of  August  2d.     In  these  he  states  : 

"/"Vr-s/.  I  opindy  exposed  in  jirayer  or  otherwise  those 
whom  I  thought  unconverted.  l:<ecoii(Uy.  I  advised  to  sep- 
arations from  tliem.  T/iinU;/.  I  was  led  astray  by  follow- 
ing impulses.  Fduiihl;/.  Hy  encouraging  private  persons  to 
a  ministerial  juid  authoritative  kind  of  method  of  exhort- 
ing. Fij't/ilij.  1  did  not  i)revent  singing  with  others  in  tiie 
streets.  I  make  this  })ublic  recantatii>n.  May  Ciod 
bless  it.  "James  Davkni'okt." 

Such,  then,  was  the  state  of  Presb3'terianism  in  New 
England  in  relation  to  doctrine  and  worshij>  in  174."]-4,  at 
tlu'  end  of  the  tirst  (piarter  of  a  century  afteT  it  had  been 
introduced  by  Metiregor  and  his  associatt^s.  In  some 
places  it  prospered  exceedingly.     This  was  the  case  in  all 


is™ 

ffp 

1 

[ 

I    i 


■I  • 


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HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


the  towns  where  it  had  the  ascendency  and  was  established 
by  civil  law.  In  others  it  was  worried  for  want  of  "  free- 
dom to  worship  God,"  and  in  some  cases,  as  we  have  seen, 
it  succumbed  to  Congregationalism.  .  The  precise  number 
of  congregations  now,  nor  yet  the  exact  number  of  settled 
pastors,  we  cannot  state. 

Tiiere  was,  however,  a  Presbytery  in  full  operation 
which  had  no  intercourse  with  the  ministers  whom  they 
had  suspended.  Emigration  and  domestic  increase  added 
largely  to  their  aggregate  numbers.  New  towns  were  set- 
tled, churches  were  formed,  and  during  the  next  twenty- 
tive  years  Presbyterianism  had  an  increasing  vitality  in 
New  England. 

For  the  diffusion  of  knoAvledge  or  the  support  and  vin- 
dication of  "sound  doctrine''  up  till  this  ])eriod,  the  Press 
liad  not  been  employed  by  Presbyterians  in  these  colonies 
excepting  by  the  liev.  A.  LeMercier  in  publishing  his 
"  History  of  Geneva."     See  appendix  C. 

To  it  both  Moorehcad  and  LeMercier  afterwards  resorted 
in  their  controversies,  and  the  pamphlets  of  "  John  Pres- 
byter "  and  LeMercier's  "  review  "  and  "  answer "  each 
betray  not  a  little  of  "  the  wrath  of  man." 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


107 


1^ 


:'l 


CHAPTER  IV. 

1743-1708 — An  cfFicient  Elderslup — Projiidicc — Formntion  of  a  second 
Preshytcry  —  AlH'rcri)iiil)it' — Pclliani  —  Its  Ih-II — Work  ';j  do — ColiMTiin 
— A  "PreshylLiiul  visitiition  " — Daniel  Mitriu'll  lictnsc  '  — Kiitland  — 
Georf^t'towii  —  SliL'i'i»s('ot(.' — If  ''he  slionld  judge  sale  "'— Wiscasset — 
Soidie^aii — Kint^^ston — <  ilasgow — Boyd  licensed  —  DifTieullies  in  Pel- 
liani — ['arsons  received — Double  taxes — First  pro  re  mita,  1749— Ke- 
liefsouiriit  l)y  Parsons — Strife  in  Pi'liiam — Re;  *''v. — A  |)lea  —  Rea- 
H'His — Abercronihie  suspended — "Rejoinder" —  ..  >  precision  of  llie 
Scotcinnan  -Four  persons  tit — His  iinprndence — An  exotic— The  na- 
son — It  grows — Better  counsels  —  Palmer — Harvey — A  scandal  —  Dis- 
nnssed — R.  Rm-ns  examined  a  part  of  two  days — Installed  there  — Mr, 
Kiiihiows — C'oh'raine — The  Foit  precedt'd  the  church  —  Its  hell  from 
Lonl  ('.  purloined — Alexander  McDowell — Another  phast — I^aston — 
Rev.  8ol.  Prentice— Troubles— Voted -Nov.  5,  17.")2— ".My  wife  at 
it" — Vagrant  lay  teachers — The  millennium — Pri'sbyti'ry  suspended 
him — He  entertained  not  "angels  unawares" — An  address  to  "  tlio 
Kirk"— Zeal  in  tlieir  work — Calls — I'.oyd  and  Mary  Ihichan — I'A'ld 
Psalm- -Boyd  installed  at  New  Castle— Winslow  a  disturber — \'olun- 
town — Oorrance — Pioneers — Peterboro — ,)ohn  Morrison — A  compro- 
mise— /•'(■A;  dc  w — The  plain  of  Onci — Tampirs  with  principle— Wind- 
ham—Rev.  John  Kinkead — Rev.  S.  Williams — fo'.i=Sol).")U  in 
specie  in  1720 — Scarlxiro — Rev.  Thos.  Pierce — A  specimen  — London- 
derry Presbytery — Respectable  but  their  Ministry  died  out — liev.  Mr. 
I)unloi)^He  saw  his  liouse  and  family  bin-ned  by  the  Indians — Brad- 
ford^Rev.  John  Houston — A  change  in  a  church  in  New  York — ■ 
Kliects  Presbylerianism — Scots — Rev.  D.  Mc(iregor — Animosities — 
Teachings — The  imitations — Rev.  Jolin  Mason — "Incurably  dissatis- 
fied " — "  Seceders" — Overborne — If  principle  had  prevailed,  Presby- 
terianisiu  in  this  land  woulil  have  had  a  bright  future — The  blight  of 
Socinianism — The  little  cloud,  floods  of  error  and  division — The 
rancor  of  a  century — "  Time  but  the  impression  deeper  makes." 

In  cnterino;  on  this  period,  it  may  be  useful  at  times  to 
rpcii])it\ilate  a  little. 

Notwithstanditio:  the  isolated  position  of  INlooreliead  and 
]\It(ire,ti;()r,  their  eoiio,re,ij;ations  prospered.  A  hir^e  and 
efficient  eldership  assisted  them  in  their  respeetive  ehar;j;es. 
Family  worship  and  domestic  discipline  were  attended  to. 


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HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


Hcavinfj  cntnrcd  warmly  into  the  spirit  of  Wlutcfield,  and 
being  in  the  prinio  ol'  niiuisterial  usetulncss,  they  Avere  caeh 
extensively  })rosi)ered  in  their  Ahistcr's  work.  Htill,  they 
found  tiieir  situation  relatively  uni)leasant,  as  they  were 
subject  to  and  pn^teeted  hy  no  eiiureh  etjurt.  To  return 
to  the  original  Presbytery  was  well  nigh  an  impossibility. 
Prejudice;  with  other  evm  inferior  operations  of  our  un- 
sanctihed  natur(>,  .-^ueh  as  sarcasm,  was  at  work,  and  cher- 
ished sectarian  rancor.  Thus  they  passed  about  or  abt)vo 
eight  years  of  isolation,  until  eventually  they  acconii)lished 
that  with  which  they  had  been  charged  at  their  susi)ension 
Vjy  licMercier — the  formation  of  a  l^resbytery.  This,  by 
themselves,  they  would  n(jt  probably  have  attem})ted,  but 
Providence  eventually  enabled  them  to  accomnlish  it  by 
bringing  to  t'lCir  aid  the  Rev.  Roljert  Abercrombie. 

He,  on  being  licensed,  left  Scotlan<l  with  testimonials 
from  the  Presbytery  of  Edinburgh  and  Kirkaldy,  and  re- 
connnendations  from  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wilson,  of  Perth.  Ho 
came  to  New  England  in  the  autumn  of  1740,  and  after 
laboring  nearly  four  ycnrs  in  different  places  as  a  proba- 
tioner, was  ordained  in  Pelham,  Mass.,  on  August  30th, 
1744,  by  a  council,  consisting  of  tlie  Rev.  Messrs.  Moore- 
head,  McCJregor,  Edwards,  of  Northampton,  Parsons,  of 
East  Hadley,  Billings,  of  Greenfield,  and  White,  of  Ilard- 
wicke. 

On  this  occasion  tlic  Rev.  Jonathan  Edwards  preached 
from  John  v.  35  :  "  He  was  a  burning  and  a  shining  light." 

Pelham  was  incorporatec'  on  January  loth,  1743,  about 
"which  time  they  called  the  Rev.  William  Johnston,  for- 
merly of  Worcester,  and  then  pastor  at  Windham,  N.  H.,  a 
metnber  of  the  then  existing  Presbytery,  but  he  refused 
their  call. 

Lord  Pelham  gave  to  the  town  a  bell,  but  it  remained  in 
Boston  until  it  was  sold  for  the  freight  and  storage. 
Others  say  it  was  purchasc'd  by  the  Old  South,  in  Boston, 
from  the  Pelham  church. 

The  inhabitants  of  this  town  were  to  be  Presbyterians. 
The  church  was  organized  in  1743.  Mr.  Abercrombie  was 
a  profound  scholar  and  had  a  fine  library,  which,  after  the 
vicissitudes  of  above  a  century,  is  owne(l  by  one  of  his  de- 
scendants. His  early  Presl)vteriiin  education  and  the 
mental  instability  inherent  in  Congregationalism,  prompted 


IN    NEW    ENGLAND. 


109 


Abercrombie  to  seek  tbc  more  scriptural  order  of  ecclesias- 
tical govcniinont. 

Why  he  did  not  ask  a  connection  with  the  original 
Prc'shytery,  which  was  still  in  its  viyor,  is  not  known,  and 
we  find  that  liis  views  of  tiie  standing  of  Moorehead  and 
Md  iregor  did  not  prevent  him  from  seeking  their  fellow- 
ship. 

Alter  due  conference  on  the  suV)iect  and  much  prayer, 
they  resolved  that  if  their  congregations  concurred,  they 
should  soon,  and  in  an  orderly  way,  assume  Presbyterial 
res|)onsihilities. 

Having  agreed  tlmt  the  organization  was  desirable,  they, 
with  tlieir  congregations,  observed  '' tiie  tliird  Wednesday 
of  Marcli,  1745,  as  a  day  of  fasting  and  humiliation  to  ask 
counsel  of  God  in  this  im[)ortant  matter," 

This  Ix'ing  done,  they  met  on  "the  IGth  day  of  April, 
1745,  at  Londonderry,  and  being  aided  by  ]\Ir.  James  j\Ic- 
Kean,  ruling  (>lder  of  that  place,  Mr.  Alexander  Conkcy, 
formerly  of  Worcester,  and  then  (])robahly)  of  Pelliam, 
and  Mr.  James  Hcnighs  (probably)  of  Boston,  they  did  l)y 
prayer  constitute  themselves  into  a  Presbytery,  to  act,  so 
far  as  their  (then)  present  circumstances  Avould  permit 
them,  according  to  the  word  of  God  and  Constitutions  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland,  agreeing  with  that 
perfect  rule." 

Mr.  Abercrombie  was  chosen  Clerk  and  Mr.  Moorehead 
^loderator. 

To  whatever  extent  their  conduct  might,  when  exposed 
to  a  rigid  scrutiny,  meet  the  approbation  of  true  Presbyte- 
rians, they  had  now  placed  themselves  in  working  order  as 
a  church  court,  and  they  had  work  to  do. 

Among  other  matters  a  reference  from  the  session  of 
Pelham  was  on  that  day  laid  before  them — and  a  letter 
from  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Colerain,  Massachu- 
setts, was  read,  requesting  the  Presbytery  to  take  them 
under  their  care.  At  their  next  meeting,  in  Boston,  on 
August  IMth,  1745,  both  of  these  cases  received  attention. 
Mr.  Abercrondiie  had  (as  directed)  visited  the  Presl^yte- 
rians  of  Colerain,  and  now  i)resented  a  request  from  them 
for  the  services  of  a  Mr.  Graham,  who,  "having  a  design 
to  remove  from  these  parts  very  soon,"  did  not  a.GGede  to 
their  wishes. 


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HISTORY   OF   PRKSBYTERIANISM 


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Not  only  in  name  did  those  con2!;repjntions  adhere  to 
Prcshytcrianisni.  Tii(,'y  viewed  its  arrauixeinents  as  Scrip- 
tural, and  the  session  at  IVlliani  re([Ueste(l  a  Presl)yterial 
visitation.  Wlica'c  this  is  laitht'idly  jjerlornu'd,  and  no- 
where else,  is  tlie  full  spirit  otthe  (hvine  injunetion  hroui^ht 
into  oi)eration — "Obey  them  that  Irive  tlie  ruU' over  you 
and  sul)mit  yourselves,  ibr  they  watch  tor  your  souls,"  etc. 
(JI(;h.  xiii.  17.) 

To  the  Presbytery  comiu'^:  tot2;eth(M',  constitutiuL',  in  the 
name  and  "hythe  power  ot"  the  Lord  Jesus  C'In-ist,"  tii 
})astor  and  ehlers  in  all  spiritual  matters,  and  th(;  deacons 
in  "tiie  outward  atlairs  of  the  house  of  (iod,"'  in  answer  t(; 
formal  ollicial  in(iuiries,  detail  tlu;  deliniiuencies  or  faith- 
fulness of  each  other — and  to  these  under-shepherds,  sittin,<>; 
in  jud<^nient,  their  ^'' accounts^''  in  the  highest  sense  on  earth 
are  "rendered  with  joy  and  not  with  grief,"  where  no  dere- 
liction of  duty  is  found,  it  forms  a  prt'nionition  of  the 
appearing  of  "the  (Jhief  Shepherd."  Without  suital)le 
attendance  to  this  duty,  doctrine,  worship,  government  and 
discipline  cannot  usually  long  be  continued  scripturally 
pure. 

These  were  not,  however,  the  only  demands  made  upon 
the  court.  Comi)laints  were  entertained  and  adjudicated. 
In  1746,  Mr.  Daniel  Mitchell,  from  Ireland,  was,  after  due 
examination,  and  on  subscribing  the  Westminster  Stand- 
ards, licenseil  to  ))reach  the  gospel  as  a  jn'obationer  for  the 
ministry.  In  some  towns,  where  the  number  of  Presbyte- 
rians was  large,  althoimh  not  a  nuijority,  they  made  reouest 
at  times  to  have  the  Sacrament  of  th(?  Lord's  Su[)])er  ad- 
ministered in  their  form,  and  have  the  tables  served  by 
ruling  elders  instead  of  Con^regationalist  deacons.  From 
a  })ortion  of  the  church  in  Rutland,  Massachusetts,  a  ])eti- 
tion  was  pres(>nted  on  iNIay  12th,  1747,  on  this  subj(>ct,  and 
before  the  Presb^^tery  would  act  ui)on  it,  the  ^Moderator 
was  ap})ointed  to  confer  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Eaton,  of  that 
town,  in  the  case.  After  an  extensive  conference  the  appli- 
cants were  duly  "congregated"  as  a  Presbyterian  (.'liurch. 

On  August  11th,  1747,  Mr.  1).  Mitchell  was  ap])ointed  to 
supply  in  Georgetown  and  Sheepscote,  from  wliich  jilaces 
a])plications  for  his  labors  had  been  })resented.  They 
"leave  with  him  also  a  discretionary  ])ower  to  go  to  any 
other  places  there  {in  Maine)  as  he  should  judge  safe."   On 


IN   NEW   ENGLAND. 


Ill 


November  11th  he  was  also  appointed  to  supply  till  !March 
in  Wiscasset,  Souhcgan  and  J.itclitield,  and  al'terwardss  in 
Kingston  and  (j(las(>ow,  lor  the  same  reason  that  from  those 
])hices  requests  were  made  for  his  serviees. 

To  meet  these  inereauin;^  demands  Divine  Providence 
now  be.yan  to  hrinji  to  tliem  assistance.  One  Mr.  Alexan- 
der Boyd,  who  had  studied  theolo.L^y  in  Glasgow,  was  in 
due  form,  aiter  suhs(;ril)ing  the  \\'estminster  (Standards, 
licensed  at  Pelliam  on  June  15th,  174S,  and  directed  '"to 
supply  at  Georgetown  I'or  tlie  next  three  months,  with  dis- 
cretionary power  to  go  to  Wiscasset  and  to  Sheepscotc,  as 
he  may  judge  it  to  be  sale."  There  were  no  coaches, 
steand)oats,  nor  rail  cars  in  Maine  in  those  days,  and  to 
hreak  "the  bread  of  life"  to  the  dispersed  families  in  tlu; 
wilderness  was  often,  in  many  ways,  a  ])eril()us  undertak- 
ing. Hence  the  indulgence  to  Messrs.  Mitchell  and  Jioyd 
to  consult  their  i)ersonal  safety. 

At  this  meeting  another,  a  less  pleasant  phase  of  Pres- 
byterial  duty,  was  presented.  Several  persons  ap|)eared, 
expressing  dissatisfaction  with  some  parts  of  the  conduct 
of  the  })astor  of  Pelham,  and  he  also  requested  a  release 
from  his  charge.  Both  parties  were  very  suital)ly  advised 
in  relation  to  their  respective  duties  to  each  other  in  the 
future. 

At  Londonderry,  on  October  4th,  1748,  "the  Rev.  Jona- 
than Parsons,  of  Xeuherry,  with  the  Presbyterian  congre- 
gation under  his  care,  oliered  tliemselves  to  join  with  this 
Presbytery.  After  impiiry,  made  with  respect  to  Mr.  Par- 
sons' testimonials  as  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  and  inquiry 
also  into  the  circumstances  of  the  congregation,  so  far  as 
the  Presbytery  judged  necessary,  and  sufficient  satisfaction 
being  had  upon  both  these  heads,"  tiiey  were  "unani- 
mously received,  and  he  and  .Mr.  Thomas  Pike  took  their 
seats  accordingly."  This  was  a  substantial  increase  to  the 
Presbytery.  Their  choice  of  Presbyterianism  was  partly 
a  matter  of  couipulsion  as  well  as  of  choice  by  both  pastor 
and  people.  They  had  left  the  first  parish,  Is'^ewberry,  on 
January  3d,  1746,  had  settled  their  i)astor  on  i\[arch  IDth, 
174(),  and  the  dissentients  from  the  third  parish  were 
received  into  their  fellowship  on  the  l()th  of  the  following 
October;  but  still  they  were  compelled  to  i)ay  double 
church  taxes  until  1770.  As  this  congregation  "  continues 
unto  this  day,"  it  will  receive  further  notice. 


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HISTORY   OF   I'UKSHYTERIANTSM 


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At  this  meeting:  (October  Itli,  1718)  tlio  probationers, 
i»I('ssrs.  lioyd  and  Mitchell,  had  didy  to  ii,'wv.  an  account 
ol'  their  labors  ;  and  the  ()])inion  is  ollicially  expressed  that 
in  the  vacancy  of  Rutland,  while  "  the  con<ire<i:atin«;  of  the 
])eo[)le  was  deemed  valid,  the  administration  of  the  Lord's 
»^upl)er  ouuht  not  to  have  been  gone  into  without  a  Pres- 
])yterial  ai)i)ointment.''" 

On  October  5th  the  Rev.  "  ]Mr,  Al)ercrombie  pctitionrd 
ibr  a  dismission  I'roin  his  pa.storal  charj^c.  lie  was  recom- 
mended to  give  the  reasons  of  his  '  uneasiness  '  to  the 
])eople,  who  with  him  are  to  rei)ort  the  circumstances  of 
things  against  the  next  Presbytery," 

At  a  ])}'()  re  mdd  meeting  in  Roston,  on  March  14th, 
1740,  the  moderation  of  a  call  was  granted  to  Kim..ston,  or 
Elbows,  Nt!\v  liamjishire,  and  on  May  2d,  at  Newberry, 
ji  moderation  lor  a  call  was  granted  to  Ruthmih 

At  this  meeting  the  congregation  of  Pelham  did  not 
make  the  statements  ])reviously  ordered,  and  consequently, 
in  their  ease  with  their  ])astor,  the  Presbytery  could  not  at 
present  proceed.  A  sup})lication  from  Messrs.  Samuel 
Poor,  John  Emory  and  others,  to  become,  for  several 
weighty  reasons,  members  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Parsons' church, 
"was  considered  ;  and  as  it  a})[)eared,  that  said  "  peoph;  had 
used  all  proper  endeavors  to  get  relief  on  the  Congrega- 
tional way  witljout  success,  that  their  reasons  are  suflicient 
to  legitimate  their  withdrawal,  and  it  is  directed  that  IMr. 
Parsons  and  his  elders  should  upon  request  admit  them, 
linding  them,  ujjon  examination,  to  be  persons  of  a  gosi)cl 
conversation." 

On  June  13th,  1749,  at  Pelham,  both  ]\Ir.  Abercrombie 
and  a  committee  on  the  behalf  of  that  town  appeared,  and 
now  "the  beginning  of  strife  was  as  the  letting  out  of 
■waters."  Contention  was  (not  only)  not  "left  off,  but 
meddled  with  "  for  several  succeeding  years,  again  "  wound- 
ing the  Saviour  in  the  house  of  his  friends."  Among  the 
varied  forces  in  nature  "  action  and  reaction  "  are  equal, 
and  it  has  at  times  proved  to  be  not  a  little  so  in  the  visi- 
ble church.  The  extraordinary  results  of  the  labors  of 
Whitefield,  Tennant  and  Davenport  we  have  noticed,  and 
now  reaction  in  religious  zeal  was  taking  place,  and  "  the 
love  of  many  had  begun  to  wax  cold." 

This  was  the  case  to  some  extent  in  Pelham.    Mr.  Aber- 


IN   NEW   ENGLAND. 


113 


crombie,  bcinjj  from  conviction  a  Presbyterian  (altbon^h 
from  necessity  ordained  by  a  Conncil),  considered  it  to  be 
Ihh  duty  to  ai)])ly  the  disrijiline  of  the  church  to  the  igno- 
rant and  innnoiiil  in  rehition  to  chureli  ])rivilef;es,  and 
especially  to  those  of  tiiem  in  Pelhani,  who  demanded  for 
their  children  the  ordinance  of  ba])tisni. 

Thou^ih  the  Preshytciian  rule  in  relation  to  baptism  is 
alike  Scriiitural  and  ])lain,  vi/.. :  that  "  baptism  is  not  to  be 
administered  to  any  -who  are  out  of  the  visilAo  church  till 
they  profess  their  I'aith  in  ('hrist,  and  obedience  to  him; 
bul  tiu'  inlanls  of  such  as  arc  members  of  the  visible  church 
are  to  be  bai)tized '' — yi't  it  is  slran,n;e  that,  wherever  men 
have  not,  in  otiier  religious  matters,  the  ami)lc  faith  of 
Prelacy,  which  on  this  ])oint  maintains  that  baptism  "is 
to  lie  refus(>d  to  none  " — or.  on  the  other  hand,  the  less 
Scrii)tural  belief  that  the  Abrahamic  covenant  was  not 
"confirmed  of  God  in  Christ,"  but  ])rofess  to  believe  that 
"the  infants  of  such  as  are  members  of  the  visible  church 
are  to  be  baj^tized  " — tliey  will  often  habitually  live  without 
any  connection  with  the  church  on  earth,  excepting  the 
formal  oflicial  sprinklinii;  of  their  infants  with  water,  which 
they  usually  consider  to  be  "christening,"  or,  otherwise, 
giving  to  th(nr  child  a  name!  The  criminal  indulgence 
of  careless  parents  in  this  unscri])tural  and  wicked  whim 
by  ministers  has  given  more  weight  of  argument  to  the 
o])inions  of  the  Anabajitists  than  all  that  can  be  found  in 
the  volume  of  divine  revelation.  This  evil  had  now  for 
yenrs  a])pcared  in  Pelham,  and  as  the  support  of  the  min- 
ister was  a  town  business,  so  such  persons  had  apparently 
a  ])lea  for  their  demands. 

Hence,  says  Mr.  Abercrombie,  ]\lay  30th,  1755,  in  a  let- 
ter [o  a  friend  :  "  When  the  late  remarkable  Divine  influ- 
ences were  withdrawn,  and  religion  began  to  decline  among 
us,  some  fiiicdsine.'oniYose  in  my  congregation,  which  I  soon 
perceived  would  increase  unless  I  preached  smooth  things, 
and  unless  I  eom])lied  with  the  Presbvterv  in  all  their 
measures.  This  T  thought  I  could  not  in  faithfulness  do; 
and  therefore  resolved  to  learr  my  congregation.  I  once 
and  again  desired  IVeshylery  to  dl.<<mis>!  me  from  my  pas- 
toral charge.-'  But  this  they  would  not  do.  He  presented 
reasons:  "1st.  Ignorance  and  the  neglect  of  the  means  of 
knowledge,  particularly  their  defects  in  attending  on  cate- 
8 


ill 


-.,  1 


,:    1 


■M 


\  r  • 


•!4 


■!     ;, 


!     -1 


114 


HISTORY  OF   PRESBYTERIANI8M 


mt  ■ 


ii  ii 


■III! 


chising."  "5th.  The  town,  on  January  21  st,  1747,  voted 
that  'Mr.  A.  should  not  be  allowed  his  next  year's  salary 
without  a  discharge  for  the  former  years.' "*  This  fifth 
reason  the  Presbytery  eonsidcred  "injurious  to  Mr.  A.'s 
moral  character,  and  ought  tp  be  recalled,"  and  "  tiiey  en- 
join him  to  bestir  the  unbaptized  children  in  case  the 
parents  shall  in  some  proper  manner  ''  st'cure  his  necessary 
SU])port.  This  the  town  as  such  did  n(jt  d(»,  while  "a 
great  number  of  the  town  distin^niished  themselves  accord- 
ing to  the  >rder  of  rresl)ytery,  and  Mr.  A-  was  enjoined  to 
continue  their  minister  agreeably  to  their  request." 

He,  however,  insisted  \\\un\  tiie  iijjplication  of  the  dis- 
cipline of  the  Church  of  Scotland  (to  which  the  Presbytery 
professedly  held)  to  the  parties  to  whom  it  ought,  in  his 
judgment,  to  apjily. 

By  so  doing  he  was  chnrged  with  "insinuating  things 
against  the  Presbytery,  evidently  false  and  groundless." 
Mr.  Moorchead  was  "ordained  to  baptize  the  children  of 
those  whom  he  finds  on  inquiry  to  have  a  right  (in  P.)  to 
that  privilege."  Thus  matters  continued  from  year  to 
year,  becoming  continually  worse,  until  at  Boston,  on  May 
14th,  1755,  he  declined  their  authority,  and  they  sus- 
pended him  from  the  ministry  and  from  the  ])astoral 
relation  in  Pelham,  because,  say  they,  "  he  refuses  to 
retract  from  or  make  satisfaction  for  the  false  and  injurious 
things  insinuated." 

His  friends  had  also,  on  April  15th,  1755,  addressed 
Presbytery  on  his  behalf,  but  both  for  himself  and  for 
them  there  was  no  redress,  as  they  were  not  in  connection 
with,  nor  subject  to,  any  Synod  as  a  court  of  appeal  or 
review. 

In  reference  to  this  he  says  to  Presbytery :  "  'Tis  plain, 
the  sum  of  both  my  representations  U])on  which  you  build 
your  awful  procedure  is  to  plead  with  you  to  receive  the 
discipline  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  in  her  purest  times, 


*  "  Pelham,  March  2ith,  1748. 
"Accounted  with  James  Coukey,  Treasiinr,  for  my  salary  from  tlie 
year  1744  to  August  the  30th,  1740,  and  received  tifty  pounds  in  hills  of 
the  new  tenor,  which  I  accept  of  as  uiy  salary  for  said  year,  and  hereby 
discharge  him  and  the  town  from  all  further  demands  of  the  same. 

"  R.  Abercrombie." 


:H:;ii; 


IN   NEW  ENGLAND. 


115 


find  prartiPO  in  surh  a  innnnor  Hint  irmmnrnl  and  ilVitcrdlc 
jK'ivoiis  may  not  ho  admitted  to  tho  sacred  odicc  of  tho 
iniiiistrv,  and  tliat  those  who  are  unworthy  atnon^'  tho 
jicople  may  he  kept  hack  iVoni  seaHiiii  onhnanees." 

•'The  hite  remarkahh>  l)i\'ine  influences '' thus  apjx'ar  to 
liave  heen  "withch'awn,  and  religion  to  have  (h'clined  " 
jrciicrally  in  tlie  houn<ls  of  tlie  I'reshytery,  and  ch)nhth'S.s 
also  aniouLT  their  surroundiuL'S  when  such  occurrences  luid 
tak<  n  place. 

Jjike  the  stimulant  of  stronc;  (h'ink  u])on  the  human 
pyftem,  the  "awakenings"  which  had  popularly  ran  into  a 
''revival,"  had  now,  in  a  few  years,  sunk  the  churches 
heneatli  the  level  of  the  usual  results  in  the  ordinary  en- 
joyment of  the  means  of  <i;race,  and  either  in  sympathy 
with,  or  in  deference  to,  the  oj)inions  and  lives  of  the 
church  memhers  and  dwellers  in  the  tt)wns,  the  I'reshytery, 
accordinjz;  to  Ahercromhie,  adopted  new  "  measures  "  and 
'■  preached  smooth  thinus."  It  is  (pn'te  possilje  that  now, 
in  the  hist  (piarter  of  the  nineteenth  century,  in  these 
things,  as  in  others,  history  may  ''repeat  itself." 

Notwithstandinji  his  suspension  "the  con<jfrep:ation  liad 
never  brought  any  charirc  ajrainst"  Mr.  A.  and  the  Presln'- 
tery  "could  not  hreak  in  upon  the  conu;r(>aati()n  l^y  the 
session."  The  select  men,  however,  by  the  order  of  Pres- 
bytery, shut  the  meeting-house  doors  on  tiie  Kev.  ^\y.  A., 
not  on  Habbath,  but  on  Monday.  Thus  matters  continued 
for  three  years.  A  narrative  from  Parsons,  Moorehead 
and  McCiregor  was  issued.  This  was  followed  by  "  Re- 
marks "  by  Ahercromhie,  and  these  by  a  '"  Kejoinder  "  from 
Parsons  and  McGregor  in  1758. 

As  Mr.  A.  had  declared  that  if  he  "had  a  superior  court 
to  which  to  carry  his  case,  he  could  vindicate  his  conduct," 
so  "at  a  meeting  at  Newberry,  on  May  24th,  1758  (Mr. 
Moorehead  being  Idoderator  and  Mr.  McGregor  Clerk), 
they  agreed  to  let  him  a])peal,  jK.'cording  to  his  proposal,  to 
the  associated  ministers  of  l^oston  ov  to  the  Synod  of  New 
York,"  not  as  having  any  jurisdiction  over  the  Presbytery, 
hut  as  a  friendly  court,  who  could  act  as  um])ire,  and  by 


vice,  ])roinote  ])eace. 


Til 


ev  so  wrote  to  him. 


Here,  howi!ver,  the  preciseness  of  the  iScotchnian  ajipears 
in  his  answer  to  this  proposal,  dated  at  Pelhani  on  June 
21st,  1758.     He  says :  "A  Synod  to  whom  the  Presbytery 


'■f! 


I 


:  i 


I  ! 


:;  it 


! 


I 


: 


m 


T     r  if  t'  f  ^ 


IIG 


nrSTOUY  OF  presryterianism 


\i  ' 


^vas  not  joinrd  could  give  liiin  no  lawful  nor  sntipHictory 
redress."' 

'Die  representations  of  tlie  l're>l)ytery  on  the  points  at 
issue  are,  iiouevir,  ol'ten  very  ilillerent  I'roni  those  ot'  Mr. 
Al)t'reron»bie.  They  appear  to  iiave  believed  that  lie 
Kouuht  to  (piarrel  with  tiieni,  say  that  "tiie  society  iiad 
been  Ion;,'  witiiout  tile  iiord's  Supper,  as  lie  would  not  clis- 
jiense  it  to  them,  considei'ing  that  only  about  lour  persons 
m  the  town  were  W(M'lliy  to  receive  il,  that  a  considerable 
number  ol"  ehildren,  whose  ]tarents  were;  jn-rsons  ol'  j^^ood 
character,  luul  been  loii;^  deprived  ol  baptism,  that  he 
could  never  be  prevailed  upon  to  make  any  addition  to  the 
session,  and  ballled  the  aggrieved  when  tlu-y  would  atti-mpt 
to  brin^'  their  matters  of  complaint  before  Presbytery." 

W  they  were  iiuleed  ;^uilly  of  conformin;j;  to  their  sur- 
roundinus,  he  did  not  shew  prudence,  much  less  wisdom 


m  U])l)rai(lin,i,'  them  witli  their  (lelin([Ue 


th  th 


ncies,  while  he  de- 


clined their  authority  be'cause  he  viewed  them  as  a  party, 
tmd  must  have  reconciliation  only  l.)y  measures  of  his  own 
j)roposinj,',  which,  when  acceded  to  by  Presbytery,  ho 
•would  a^ain  i<i;nore.  Whether  his  course  of  condu(;t  in 
the  matter  arose  from  "  a  zeal  for  (Jo<l,  not  according  to 
knowlcdjie,"  or,  as  the  autiiors  of  the  '"  Kiijoinder  "  say, 
*'Some  of  us  would  still  ho[)(!  that  his  conduct  towards 
his  brethren  is  the  eil'ect  of  a  xtroiuj  (cmptdtion,^^*  still  it 


*  "A  strong  lemptnllon.''  It  is  possible  that  the  following  vigorous 
tradition  iviy  give  to  us  "a  bird's-ese  view"  of  the  state  of  morals  in 
the  town  (alter  the  "awakening"  had  jjassed  away),  with  bulb  the 
})rea('her  and  llie  people,  as  he  eontinued  to  reside  among  them,  and  \>o 
far  as  we  knowj  Lo  olliciate  among  them  after  lie  and  they  had  ceased  to 
be  Presbyterians. 

A  story  nf  jlip  d(i;/s.  The  old  .Vhererombie  honse  at  Pelham  is  said  to 
liave  once  l»een  the  scene  of  a  praetical  joke  l)y  Rev.  Mr.  Abercrombie, 
the  original  oeeiipant  of  the  honse  and  minister  of  the  town,  hi  his 
days,  of  course,  Hip  was  the  common  beverage  of  eiergymen  and  tlio 
laity,  and  no  objection  was  ever  maile,  unless  iieojile  became  iiotorioi;-;ly 
over-indulgent.  The  elnrge  was  (inally  brought  at  a  chureh-meetiiig 
that  tile  minister  was  (irinUing  too  freely,  and  a  committee  was  appointed 
to  tell  bini  of  his  fault  and  warn  him  of  the  ilanger  of  continuing  in  it. 
Warned  of  their  coming,  the  erring  jiastor  told  his  wife  to  prepare  the 
iirst  round  of  flip,  which  even  this  committee  would  expect,  with  e(pial 
jiarts  of  rum  and  waier,  the  next  with  more  rum,  and  the  next  mostly 
rum.  The  committee  soon  after  their  arrival  partook  of  the  Hip,  whieli 
their  pastor  ordered,  after  which  they  made  known  the  nature  of  their 


IN   NKW   ENGLAND. 


117 


liad  a  pnralyzinj];  ofTcct,  in  f»i»rc';i(lii\Lr  "  roots  of  liittcrncss," 
iind  of  Icndinii  to  make  I'rt'sltvti'i'iiiiiisin  still  inoiv  cxten- 
eivi'ly  an  exotic  in  New  Kujiland.  In  view  of  their  jiusi- 
tion,  the  authors  of  the  "  llejoinder  "  near  the  dose  rf  it, 
say,  "The  reason  why  we  keei)  up  a  church  government 
and  administrations,  in  some  things  ditU-rcnt  from  our 
fellow-Christians  in  the  country  where  we  live,  is  not  frtra 
anv  fond  desire  of  si»i;:ularity,  hut  l)ecaust'  we  are  con- 
scientiously persuaded  that  these  are  most  conlormahle  to 
the  Scripture  })latform,  and  have  the  most  effectual  ten- 
dency to  promote  purity  of  faith  and  j)raclice."  'j'his 
"reason  "has  lm'owu  manifold  stronger  in  a  century,  not 
only  in  view  of  the  growth  of  Arminianism,  I'elagianism, 
Universalism,  Arianism,  Socinianism,  Transcendentalism, 
Spiritism,  Spiritualism,  Infidelity  and  Atheism,  hut  also 
hy  the  introduction  among  the  ])rofessed  adhering  Ortho- 
dox descendants  of  the  Puritans  of  "(ierman  douhts,  con- 
jectures, negations  and  hypotheses  "into  "tlic  country 
where  we  live."  While  the  townsmen  of  Pelham  could 
not  ohtain,  as  easily  as  they  desired,  baptism  for  their 
children,  tlie  i)rofessing  Christians  among  the  C\)ngrega- 
tionalists  of  to-day,  either  have  very  few  of  this  "  heritage" 
of  God,  or  care  but  little  about  having  the  seal  of  his  cove- 

erran<1.  The  pastor  admitted  tlirit  tluio  might  be  need  of  tlie  reproof, 
niul  that  he  would  he  governed  hy  it.  Tiien  came  the  second  round  of 
tlij),  and,  as  the  husiness  had  been  dispatched,  the  eommittee  M'ere  dis- 
])()sid  to  Ije  talkative  and  social  with  tlie  pastor  who  had  so  humhly  ad- 
mitted his  sin  at  their  n  hiike.  Tlie  (lip  came  around  the  tiiird  time, 
and  it  is  said  near  sunrise  the  next  morning  two  ol'  the  eommittee  man- 
aged to  reacii  tlieir  homes,  hut  the  third  lay  prone  on  the  floor,  unable 
to  stir  from  theefleets  of  the  flip,  until  broad  daylight.  At  the  adjourned 
(liurch  meeting,  when  this  committee  made  their  rejiort,  it  is  said  they 
made  a  very  conci.se  report  of  their  visit  to  the  pastor,  and  the  kindly 
way  in  which  he  received  the  it  proof",  by  n  porting:  "We  liave  called 
on  the  jtastor,  as  directed,  and  he  gave  us  Christian  satisfaction." 

As  his  name  appears  upon  fiie  Eecords  of  I'resbytcry,  the  Rev. 
Ilicliard  Ciraham  succeedctl  Mr.  Abercrombie  in  IVlham  before  1770, 
and  oiv  May  29th,  1771,  Presbyte  y  made  a  request  to  each  congregation 
for  aid  for  Mr.  (Jraham's  wido>N  and  family.  Down  to  1775  Pelham 
received  supj)ly  fro..i  Presbytery. 

On  Septendier  27th,  17S(i,  Pelham  requested  .some  assistance  and  sup- 
ply from  the  Associate  Reformed  Presbytery  of  Londonderry.  On 
May  80th,  1792,  this  peoj)le  re(piested  suj)ply  from  the  Associate  Re- 
formed Presbytery  of  New  Kngiand.  September  11th,  1793,  Mr.  Oliver 
wai>  installed  as  their  pastor. 


i 


,    :  I 


i,, 


ii  ^ 


II 


•■I  il' 


118 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


nant  placed  iipnn  those  whom  thoy  nurture,  perhaps, 
Avithout  it,  "  in  the  achiionition  of  the  liord."  For,  says 
the  CkriMiaa  Jn.-<tractni'  t)t'  Phihidelpliia,  of  May  loth,  187-"), 
"  In  more  tium  two  hundred  Con<j;re<z;ational  eiuirches,  of 
Massachusetts,  there  were  no  haptisms  of  infants  last  year. 
The  same  is  true  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  Congrega- 
tional churches  in  Maine." 

As  a  thunder-storm  tends  to  ])urify  the  atmospliere,  so 
tliese  controversies  and  "  vain  janglings,"  even  while  "the 
wrath  of  man  will  not  work  the  righteousness  of  Clod,'' 
had  to  some  extent  the  ellect  of  hringing  hack  the  jiarties 
to  the  anchorage  from  which  they  were  driftiiig.  Better 
counsels  api)ear,  at  this  date,  to  have  increasingly  pre- 
vailed, and  at  a  meeting  held  in  Boston,  on  May  l()th, 
17")S.  "all  the  ministers  and  probationers  present,  being 
required  by  tlie  Presbytery,  did  readily  subscribe  the 
Westminster  Standards." 

We  have  seen  that  the  Rev.  Joseph  Harvey  was  or- 
dained by  the  Londonderry  Presl)ytery,  at  Palmer,  Massa- 
chusetts, on  June  5th,  1734,  and  that  with  Moorehead  ho 
was  sus])ended  by  the  same  court  in  1736.  What  corre- 
spondence, if  any,  was  kept  up  between  him  and  Moore- 
head and  McGregor,  is  unknown.  One  thing  is  certain, 
lie  did  not  unite  in  forming  the  Boston  Presbytery,  and 
whether  he  ^vas  restored  by  his  Presbytery  or  not,  he  con- 
tinued to  live  and  labor  in  Palmer. 

He  does  not.  however,  a})j)ear  to  have  conformed  to  the 
Scripture  requirement — "A  bishop  must  be  blameless,  the 
husband  of  one  wife."  Hence,  his  usefulness  was  im- 
paired and  his  jiastoral  labors  were  cut  short.  Where 
there  is  no  "  present  distress,"  a  minister,  if  he  have  com- 
mon-sense and  understands  human  nature,  so  soon  as  he 
can  "  provide  things  honest  in  the  sight  of  all  men,"  will 
be  one  of  the  first  to  know  that  "  it  is  not  good  that  the 
man  should  be  alone." 

Mr.  Harvey  does  not  appear  to  have  made  this  discov- 
ery, and  after  a  ministry,  which  otherwise,  so  far  as  we 
know,  was,  and  might  have  continued  to  be,  largely  use- 
ful, he  fell  under  temptation,  and,  "as  the  result  of  a  dilH- 
culty  between  him  and  his  church,  arising  irom  a  scandal 
between  him  and  a  female,"  he  was  dismissed  in  1748. 

At  the  stated  meeting  of  the  Presbytery  of  Boston,  at 


tlie 
the 
iin- 
i(>rc 

lie 
will 
the 

WC 

ns<'- 
diin- 
nclal 


IN    NEW    KNGLAND. 


119 


^^^^#ft 


Newhorry,  on  Aii,mist  14(]i.  17^3,  Mr.  Koherl  Burnp,  a  licen- 
tiiite  IVoiii  the  north  of  Ireland,  was  achnitted,  "promising 
suhseription  to  the  ,Stan(hirtls  when  reiiuired."  From  his 
iiimiediati^  appointment  to  "supjily  in  Palmer  till  next 
sederunt,"  hut,  i'rom  the  fact,  in  connection  with  it,  that 
the  ''Rev.  Mr.  Ahercromhie  moderate  in  a  call  lor  liim  in 
f<aid  Palmer,  some  convenient  time  hefore  next  meeting," 
it  is  nearly  certain,  that  he  had  previously  preached  there 
and  that  they  had  expressed  a  desire  for  his  settlement 
over  them. 

In  proof  of  this,  the  adjourned  meeting  of  Preshytcry 
was  "  on  desire  of  several  memhers  of  J'reshytery  convened 
at  Boston  on  October  18th,  ai)pointed  to  be  held  in  Pal- 
moY  instead  of  Boston." 

They  met  there,  and  after  an  examination,  during  a  part 
of  two  days,  on  the  loth  day  of  November,  1753,  he  was 
ordained  and  installed  as  jjastor  of  said  church.  The  con- 
gregation, it  would  a|)pear,  came  voluntarily  to  the  Pres- 
bytery. They,  while  a  vacancy,  had  not  been  very  satis- 
factorily sujiplied,  for  we  find  that  "at  a  vote  taken  on 
August  23d,  1754."  the  claim  of  a  Mr.  Kniblows,  then  un- 
])aid,  was  deci(k>d  in  a  very  discriminating  manner,  but 
one  which  might  ])uzzie  many  a  modern  congregation  to 
imitate,  and  ought  to  ])rove  suggestive  to  the  occupants 
of  the  i)ulpit. 

"  He  was  charged  with  ]ir(>aching  other  men's  sermons. 
He  was  to  have  ibur  pounds  sixteen  shillings,  which  was 
eight  shillings  lawful  money  for  each  sermon."  and  after 
due  exaon.iation  he  was  paid  at  this  rate  for  all,  "  except- 
ing three,  whicii  wo  can  ])rove  were  other  men's  sermons." 
]\lr.  Burn  3  was  didv  dismissed  from  Pahner  on  May  5th, 
175S. 

^\'e  have  seen  that  at  the  organization  of  the  Presbytery 
( A])ril  l()th,  1715),  a  letter  was  received  from  tlw;  inhabi- 
tants of  the  town  of  Coleraine,  Massachusetts,  requesting  to 
be  taken  under  their  care. 

This  parish,  setthnl  about  1736,  was  then  a  frontier  set- 
tk^nent  and  originally  called  Boston  Township,  probably 
because  many  ot  tlie  pioneers  were  Irom  that  place;  others 
were  from  Ireland,  Londonderry,  New  Ilamj)shire;  Wo- 
bin-n,  Stow,  Boxhury  and  Pelham,  Massachusetts.  For 
them,  as  early  as  1742,  Mr.  James  Fairservice  (formerly 


1 


;    j     ) 

I    i 


'     ■■  bf 

7 

V 

i     1 

5 

;              t 

! 

M 


•ii:t 

•■•It 


L 


■i 


120 


HISTORY    OF    niESBYTKRIANISM 


i 


it 


from  Mr.  Moorohead's  church),  built  the  first  grist-mill. 
Tlicy  erected  ;i  iiieetiiig-hou^e  in  1742. 

Being  clisa|)Dointed,  as  stated,  in  not  obtaining  the  ser- 
vices of  Mr.  Graham,  Presbytery  still  gave  them  suj)])ly. 
They  also  occasionally  experienced  the  dangers  of  frontier 
life,  hi  May,  174G,  Matthew  Clarke,  his  wiie  and  daugh- 
ter were  fired  upon  by  tiie  In(Hans.  He  was  killed,  and 
his  wife  and  daughter  were  carried  to  the  fort. 

This  is  a  specimen  of  what  was  not  uncommon  in  re- 
claiming the  wilderness  from  savage  num.  The  fort 
usually  preceded  tiie  church. 

This  town  was  Presbyterian  from  its  commencement. 
The  name  was  given  to  it  in  honor  of  I^ord  Coleraine,  who 
handsomely  and  gratefully  ])rcsented  to  them  a  church 
bell,  which,  "through  the  unfaithfulness  of  the  agent,  Avas 
kei)t  in  Boston,  where  (says  Barber;  it  is  believed  to  still 
exist  and  to  be  in  use  in  one  of  the  churches." 

This  was  one  of  the  ways  in  which  Presbyterianism  was 
not  promoted  in  the  colony. 

The  supply  which  Presbytery  was  able  to  afford  was  but 
limited,  wbile  their  requests  were  fre({uent  and  earnest. 
At  length,  on  June  4th,  1750,  "the  Presbytery  a]))K)inted 
Mr.  Abercrombie  to  visit  tliem,  and,  if  he  find  it  expedient, 
he  is  to  ordain  elders  among  them,"  and  in  1751  they  had 
made  out  a  call  for  Mr.  Daniel  Mitchell  .to  become  their 
pastor.  This,  from  the  want  of  order,  Avas  not  sustained 
on  March  17th,  1752,  and  a  new  moderation  was  then 
granted. 

At  the  same  meeting  Mr.  Alexander  McDowell,  after 
having  satisfactorily  sustained  the  prescribed  "trials," 
and  having  subscribed  his  adherence  to  the  Westminster 
Standards,  was  admitted  as  a  probationer  for  the  holy 
ministry,  and  was  now  apjiointed  for  some  Sabbaths 
among  other  places  (Rutland,  Kingston  and  New  Ilutland) 
to  Coleraine. 

On  August  14th,  1753,  he  acce])ted  the  call  from  this 
town,  and  was,  on  September  2Stli  tbllowing,  by  a  commit- 
tee of  Presbytery,  ordained  and  instalKd  as  tlu'ir  pastor. 

He  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  and  })robably  the  first 
graduate  of  Harvard  College  who  entered  the  Presbyterian 
ministry.  His  [)astorate  began  with  ])roniise.  but  the  in- 
fluence of  artificial  appetite  in  a  few  years  blighted  his 


m 


IN    NEW   ENGLAND. 


121 


prospects  of  usefulness,  and  he  was  dismissed  for  intemper- 
ance in  1761. 

On  June  30th,  1761,  this  town  was  incorporated. 

We  now  (Hrect  f)ur  attention  to  anotlier  phase  of  ecclesi- 
astical development  hy  which  Picsl)yterianism  was  intro- 
duced into  the  town  of  Easton,  Mass.  Tlieir  second  Con- 
^fretrationalist  pastor,  the  Rev.  Joseph  Belcher,  died  in 
1744.  During  liis  ministry,  and,  so  far  as  he  knew,  during 
the  ministry  of  his  predecessor  (the  Rev.  Matthew  Short), 
the  society  had  no  church  covenant. 

As  this  instrument  forms  the  vitalizing  hond  of  the  de- 
nomination, Mr.  Relclier  declared  to  a  committee  wlio 
waited  on  him  on  the  subject,  that  the  society  had  "no 
records,  no  covenant  and  no  ciiurch.'''  On  A})ril  6th,  1747, 
they  subscribetl  one.  What  their  fellowship  with  surround- 
ini;;  cliurches  had  previously  been  is  not  stated  in  their 
records,  if  they  had  any,  but  from  the  fact  that  they  had 
had  two  pastors  settled  in  the  usual  form,  we  may  infer 
that  matters  in  their  church  were  no  more  loosely  managed 
than  in  some  otliers. 

On  August  28th,  1747,  they  voted  to  call  the  Rev.  Solo- 
mon Prentice,  who  was  installed  on  the  18th  day  of  No- 
vember following.  ''August  18th,  1748,  voted,  that  we  are 
a  Congregntional  church."     (Rec.  of  date.) 

In  a  dilliculty  which  arose  in  1748  about  who  have  a 
right  to  ba|)tism,  it  was  voted  that  "  Presl)yterian3  coming 
with  certilicatcs  may  obtain  it."  '"Two  elders  were  chosen 
June  16th,  1749."  Troubles  now  arose  about  the  location 
of  a  new  meeting-house,  in  which  "the  select  men  re- 
quested Mr.  Prentice  to  attend  worship  on  November  20th, 
17.')0." 

^\'hy,  instead  of  occupying  this  house  statedly,  he 
] (reached  tor  four  successive  Sabbaths  at  two  or  more  pri- 
vate houses  alternately,  does  not  fully  ap])ear,  but  in  17')1 
he  met  with  his  friends  in  it,  while  a  ])arty  was  formed  who 
''charged  him  with  inconsistency,"  and  on  May  20th,  17ol, 
charges  against  him  were  preferred  by  Deacon  llayward 
anil  others.  As  it  exhibits  the  working  ability  of  the 
church  ])olity  always  prevailing  in  New  P]ngland,  I  (juote 
from  their  recortls : 

"()ctol)er  17th,  1752,  the  church  met.  Voted  aflirma- 
tively  and  unanimously  '  Considering  the  brokenness  of  tho 


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122 


HISTOltY    OF    PUESnVTEKlANlSM 


If:' 


Constitution  of  the  Conjiro^zational  Church  in  New  England 
(this  ciiurcii  bcintf  hitlicrto  profei^sedly  one),  because  tlie 
churches  themselves  don't  stand  by,  l)Ut  occasionally,  and 
as  cases  suit,  break  in  upon  their  Constitution,  whereby  an 
injured  church  or  l)rother  cannot  obtain  ri<iht  (as  we  can 
see),  witness  the  deplorable  state  of  the  church  of  Christ  in 
this  place  by  the  acts  of  Council,  which  the  disatl'ected 
brethren  of  this  church  have  called  :  To  renounce  and  come 
off  from  the  broken  Congrcfrational  Constitution,  and  de- 
clare for,  and  come  in  with,  the  disci]iline  and  order  of  the 
renowned  Church  of  Scotland.' "  Voted,  to  keep  a  day  of 
fastiuf?,  and  to  request  "the  Presbytery,  which  is  to  meet 
at  Londonderry  on  next  Tuesday,  to  assist  them  in  carry- 
ing on  said  fast."  Their  committee  reported  tliat  they 
"  were  favorably  received,  and  that  the  Kev.  Jonathan  Par- 
sons was  a])pointed  to  assist  them  on  the  22d  day  of  No- 
vember.*' Mr.  Prentice  on  "November  5th  (a  famous 
day)"  preached  for  the  last  time  in  the  old  church,  and 
*'  voted  previously,  on  November  2d,  that  on  November 
12th  and  thenceforward,  we  will  attend  ordinances  in  the 
Presbyterian  meeting-house  in  Easton." 

"  The  church  made  a  declaration  to  the  town  for  coming 
off."  An  "  exparte  council  "  was  soon  afterwards  held,  but 
its  '' result"  rather  made  bad  worse  in  the  community. 
The  Rev.  "  Mr.  Prentice,  as  a  Presbyterian  minister,  com- 
menced catechising  in  December,  1752."  "March  7th, 
1753,  elected  four  ruling  elders  and  signed  for  Presbyte- 
rianism." 

Says  Mr.  Prentice :  "•  I  preached  on  May  19th  all  day  at 
home,  and  on  Sabbath,  the  2()th,  I  dispensed  the  sacrament 
in  the  Presbyterian  form.  My  wife  at  it.  We  had  a 
blessed  day.     I  i)reached  also  on  Monday,  the  21st." 

He  was  admitted  as  a  member  of  Presbytery  at  Boston 
on  May  15th,  1753.  At  Newbury,  on  August  14th,  the 
Presbytery  received  "a  letter  of  excuse  for  absence  from 
tlie  Rev.  S.  Prentice  of  Easton,"  and  on  the  2Sth  of  Sep- 
tember following,  he  and  his  elder,  Mr.  Hartwell,  assisted 
at  the  ordination  of  the  Rev.  A.  McDowell. 

At  the  meeting  of  Presb"tery  at  Easton  on  November 
12th,  1754,  on  their  minutes  it  is  recorded:  "The  reason 
■why  the  meeting  was  not  o})ened  with  a  sermon  as  usual, 
was  because  no  public  intimation  had  been  given,  Mr. 


and 


t*'  t 


IN    NEW    ENGLAND. 


123 


Prentice  not  beinjr  acquainted  with  the  custom  of  the 
Pr(^sbyterv  herein." 

He  luul  not  been  a  Presbyterian  formerly,  and  under 
tills  order  of  church  jzovernment  his  "course''  was  short, 
for  on  the  next  day  lie  was  arraif^ned  by  the  court  on  com- 
plaint of  four  persons,  members  of  his  church. 

''Fir,^t.  For  countenancintz;  va^i^rant  lay  teachers,  particu- 
larly in  his  own  house  in  December  last." 

The  Presbytery  judged  that  said  conduct  is  of  dangerous 
tendency  to  the  interests  of  true  religion,  and  deserves  a 
severe  rebuke. 

'\S(ri>n(Ui/.  It  is  the  judgment  of  the  Presbytery  that  the 
expiration  of  tiie  time  of  the  concert  for  ])rayer  in  Scotland 
is  no  argument  that  the  millennium  is  commenced,  and 
that  ]\Ir.  Prentice  should  be  cautioned  against  advancing 
any  such  opinions  aljout  the  millennium  as  may  prove 
hurtful  to  the  interests  of  true  religion." 

"  Presbytery  judged  that  he  should  be  rebuked,  particu- 
larly for  the  first  article,  and  restored,  if  humble.  If  not, 
that  he  siiould  be  suspended  till  next  Presbytery."  He 
would  not  submit  and  was  accordingly  suspended.  Sup- 
ply was  then  appointed  to  Easton,  but,  as  the  records  of 
Presbytery  are  discontinued  or  lost  after  the  next  meeting 
on  April  16th,  1755,  at  Pelham,  for  fifteen  years,  we  learn 
notiiing  farther  from  them  of  Presbyterianism  in  this  town. 
The  domestic  history  of  this  man  presents  one  curious 
phase.  His  wife  had,  under  the  influences  of  the  '■  vagrant 
lay  teachers"  (who  ai)pear  to  have  been  by  him  coun- 
tenanced for  several  years),  without  his  knowledge  and 
consent,  been  immersed.  Hence,  on  his  record  he  leaves 
this  statement : 

"Sarah  Prentice  Ipsa  Anabaptista  Immersa  Indignis- 
simo  Laco,  viz.:  Dec.  5th,  1750,  absente  marito."  "Sarah 
Prentice  had  herself  baptized  again  by  immersion  in  a 
small  lake,  viz. :  December  5th,  175U,  in  the  absence  of  her 
hushand." 

Whether  she  had  returned  to  his  views  or  not,  she  joined 
with  his  church  at  the  communion  on  May  2()th,  1753, 
and  it  is  probable  that  he  had  ahowed  his  kindness  to  con- 
quer his  judgment  when  he  had  again  i)articularly  coun- 
tenanced them  in  his  own  house  in  December,  1753.  la 
view  of  the  action  of  Presbytery,  he  writes : 


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124 


HISTORY   OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


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ii 


! 


"  Because  I  received  a  few  of  my  fellow-creatures  TancI  fel- 
low-Christians, so  far  as  I  know )  into  my  house,  and  sufl'ercd 
them  to  pr;vy  and  talk  about  the  Scriptures,  and  could  not 
make  any  acknowledgment  thereof  to  some  of  my  brethren 
that  were  offended  thereat,  nor  to  the  Presbytery,  I  have  been 
suspended  from  the  dischar<i;e  of  my  ministry  until  next 
April,  and  because  by  said  vote  I  was  deprived  of  my 
small  subsistence  which  I  have  amon^'  my  people  in  Eas- 
ton,  I  thought  it  necessary  for  the  honor  of  God  and  the 
pood  of  my  family  to  remove  with  my  family  to  Grafton, 
N.  H.,  whicli  accordingly  was  done  April  9th,  1755. 

"  N.  B. — I  have  never  heard  a  word  from  the  Presbytery, 
neither  by  letter  or  otherwise,  nor  the}''  from  me,  from  the 
day  of  my  suspension  to  this  day,  viz. :  September  5th, 
1755.  ''Sol.  Prentice." 

There  appears  thus  to  have  been  in  their  official  inter- 
course with  him  at  least  as  much  of  the  fortitcr  in  re  as  of 
the  suaviter  in  vindo,  while  it  cannot  be  supposed  very 
probable  that  he  "entertained  angels  unawares." 

This  Presbytery  then  recjuired  those  who  took  "  care  of 
the  house  of  God  "  to  be  discriminating  in  their  hospital- 
ity, especially  with  "  unruly  and  vain  talkers,  who  crept 
into  houses  and  led  away  silly  women." 

Existence  was  not  always  and  only  with  the  Presbytery 
a  matter  of  administration,  of  receiving  ])etitions,  granting 
moderations,  ex;imining  candidates,  ordaining  ministers, 
receiving  congregations,  or  of  suspending  pastors.  They 
at  times,  also,  considered  their  ecclesiastical  position  and 
disadvantages. 

There  was  at  this  period  no  Synod  nearer  to  them  than 
New  York.  They  were  not  connected  with  any,  and  whil(! 
nearly  all  of  the  members  of  Presbytery  were  from  Ireland, 
still  thev  held  in  remembrance  their  mother  cliurch,  tl.) 
Church  of  Scotland. 

To  inform  her  of  their  position  and  enlist  her  sympa- 
thies, at  their  meeting  in  Boston  on  August  loth,  1751,  "'  it 
was  agreed  that  an  address  should  be  sent  from  this  Pres- 
bytery to  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Church  of  Scotland 
relating  to  the  common  cause  or  interest  of  Presbyterians 
in  New  England." 

What  said  address  was,  if  it  were  ever  prepared,  when 


in 


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IN'    NEW    ENGLAND. 


125 


Fcnt,  and  wlmt  its  roco])tion,  consequences  and  fruits  were, 
their  niinutcs  do  not  say. 

l>y  this  ULrrceinent,  liowever,  they  manifest  7-(>al  in  th(Mr 
distinctive  work  and  resi)ect  for  tiie  vcncraMc  kirk,  as 
most  of  them  were  trained  in  her  schools  of  the  jjropiiets. 
They  had  in  lier  also,  beside  the  accident  of  origin,  oeea- 
siomdly  an  indirect  interest,  by  the  admission  of  individu- 
als from  lur  fellowship.  As  noticed,  a  Mr.  Alexander 
Boyd,  from  Glasgow,  had  been  by  them  licensed  on  June 
loth,  1748.  From  the  infant  church  of  Kinirston,  N.  If., 
a  call  lor  his  labors  was  presented  .on  March  14th,  1749. 
This  was  on  May  2d  sustained  and  recommended  to  him 
for  acceptance,  and  on  August  14th  they  "received  from 
(leorp;etown,  eastward,  a  call  to  him  with  an  attested  copy 
of  the  vote  of  the  town,  relating  to  his  tem])oral  support." 
DilHculties  now  beset  him.  He  had  to  a])pear  before 
l^resbytery  at  Londonderry  on  the  first  Tuesday  of  Octo- 
ber. There  he  "  acknowledged  his  irregular  marriage  with 
]Mary  liuchan,  confessed  his  sorrow  for  the  oflence  he  had 
thereby  given,  and  declared  his  resolution  to  adhere  to  her 
as  his  wife."  He  stated  that  "  he  had  written  for  her,  and 
also  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  McLaurin,  of  Glasgow,  declaring  his 
grief  for  the  otfence  which  he  had  given  that  congregation, 
and  moreover,  that  he  stood  ready  to  give  the  Presbytery 
whatever  further  satisfaction  was  needful  to  remove  the 
offence,  eithei;  for  being  married  in  a  clandestine  way,  or 
in  concealing  his  marriage  from  the  Presbytery  when  taken 
on  trials  by  them,  etc.,  etc."  They  "  rebuked  him  sharply," 
and  as  they  could  not  proceed  to  any  higher  censure,  they 
gave  him  employment  and  reserved  his  case  for  future 
consideration. 

In  view  of  the  above  case,  as  Mr.  Boyd  did  not  appear 
at  their  meeting  in  Boston  on  the  14th  of  August,  the 
Presbytery  returned,  to  the  resi)ective  congregations,  the 
<'al]s  which  had  by  them  been  made  in  his  favor.  Ho 
i'ulfillcd  his  ap))ointments  from  year  to  year,  but  "he 
could  not  altogether  vindicate  himself"  on  Mi^  141 1:, 
17'')1,  when  they  "  saw  fit  to  give  him  a  gentle  reproof,"  to 
wliich  he  submitted,  and  they  continued  him  as  supply. 
A  renewed  call  from  Georgetown  was  by  him  acccjtted  on 
November  13th,  1751,  but,  owing  to  new  difficulties,  his 
ordination  was  from  time  to  time  deferred,  until,  on  Octo- 


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126 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIANIPM 


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ber  29th,  1752,  it  was  "  dolayod  till  sprinjr,  when  tho  poo- 
pl(>  there  were  to  lmvc  li^ht  to  the  I'reshyterv  in  the  ease." 
Their  li^ht  does  not  appear  to  have  j)r()ve(l  suHieient,  and 
we  aijain  find  that  "among  the  Newcastle,  Elaine,  pa])ers, 
at  a  meeting  at  Boston,  on  May  14th,  ITM,  is  a  call  for 
Mr.  Boyd."  "The  commissioners  from  Newcastle"  in- 
tended to  have  met  Preshytery  on  the  matters  of  his  set- 
tlement among  them,  at  Newbnry  on  August  2()th,  1754, 
"  hut  in  Brovidence  they  were  frustrated  hy  contrary  winds, 
and  they  had  no  ()l)iections  against  Mr.  Boyd's  ordination." 

Tiiis  took  place  at  Newhury,  Mass.,  on  tSejjtemljer  lUtli, 
1754,  by  a  committee  consisting  of  Messrs.  Moorehead, 
McGregor  and  Parsons,  and  it  is  recorded  that  "  the  sol- 
enmity  concluded  by  singiiig  a  part  of  the  182d  Psalm." 

His  installation  was  also  performed  by  a  committee  of 
Presbytery.  The  community  was  a  mixed  one,  and  al- 
though the  majority  of  the  town  were  Presbyterians,  the 
Congregationalists.  led  on  by  ]\[r.  Winslow,  so  distur])ed  his 
})eace,  that  he  finally  left  New(!astlc  in  175S.  A  similar 
irritation  had  probably  prevented  his  settlement  at  George- 
town, which  may  ])ossil)ly  have  been  aided  by  ecclesiasti- 
cal discord,  as  Mr.  McClenahan,  of  the  Londonderry  Pres- 
bytery, had  previously  labored  in  that  }>recinct,  and  his 
friends  would  form  no  strong  attachment,  either  to  Mr. 
Boyd  or  to  his  ecclesiastical  connection.  "The  Presbyte- 
rian minister  left  Georgetown  in  1752"  (Willis),  and  when 
"  in  17()4,  the  Kev.  Alexander  Boyd  revisited  Georgetown, 
he  found  that  the  people  had  left  Presbyterianism."  ilb.) 

Two  distinct  species  of  church  government  can  never 
cordially  dwell  together.  Every  ecclesiastical  form  of 
thought,  and  every  idea  of  governmental  order  forbids  it. 
"  Two  cannot  walk  together,"  much  less  dwell  together, 
"  unless  they  are  agreed." 

At  their  meeting  in  Boston,  on  August  14th,  1749,  Pres- 
bytery received  a  petition  from  Voluntown,  Ct.,  with  a 
number  of  ])apers  relative  to  it,  and  on  the  15th  they  say: 
"  Wheveas  several  appli(!ations  have  been  made  to  this 
Presbytery  at  different  times,  by  a  number  of  people  in 
Voluntown,  the  case  concerning  which  appearing  to  us  in 
such  a  light,  that,  if  the  niajt)rity  comply  with  the  late 
proposals  of  the  Kev.  Mr.  Dorrance,  the  Presbytery  shall 
then  be  willing  to  assist  in  settling  a  minister  among  them, 


:  I 


i'        :■■    'I  I 


IN    NEW   KNr.LAND. 


12T 


agreeably  to  said  proposal.  But  otherwiso,  they  see  not 
at  ])rps(.'nt  how  they  can  concern  themselves  in  the  affairs 
of  Voluiitown." 

'riic  case  was  ])rohal)ly  one  similar  to  tliat  of  Campbell 
or  ]\IcKinstry,  or  Graliam,  an  attempt  to  identify  these 
two  discordant  species,  by  hiring  a  Presbyterian  minister 
to  ])erform  the  duties  of  a  CV)n<fre<i;ationalist  ])aytor. 

He  had  then  labored  in  Volnntown  (now  Sterlin*];)  about 
twenty-five  years,  and  bein<i;  a  native  of  Ireland  and  a 
graduate  of  Glasgow  University,  his  hal)its  of  thought 
might  have  constrained  him  to  ]>ress  his  Presbyterian  ten- 
dencies too  strongly  ui)on  the  C'ongregational  portion  of 
his  clmrch,  or  he  might  have  joined  tiie  First  Presbytery 
since  1736,  and  a  portion  of  his  people  might  have  now 
sought  connection  with  the  Boston  Presbytery,  It  is  more 
probable,  liowever,  that  liis  attachment  to  his  early  eccle- 
siastical principles  was  now  not  a  little  abated  by  his  posi- 
tion and  surroundings,  and  that  consequently  an  increas- 
ing number  of  his  ])eople  might  desire  the  settling  of  a 
Pres])yterian  minister  as  their  pastor.  Hence  tiiey  niust 
comply  with  the  late  proposals  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Dorrance. 
This  ''  number  of  his  people  "  were,  however,  for  some  time 
afterwards  Pre  byterians. 

As  we  have  r-cen,  emigration  and  domestic  increase  com- 
bined, induced  the  settlers  of  Derry  and  other  towns  to 
send  pioneers  into  the  wilderness,  and  we  now  trace  briefly 
the  settlement  of  the  town  of  Peterboro,  N.  H.  This 
was  first  attempted  in  1739.  In  1744,  under  the  alarm  of 
war,  their  clearings  and  homes  were  abandoned  until  the 
peace  of  1749.  In  1752  they  built  a  meeting-house,  and 
in  1759  there  were  forty-five  or  fifty  families  in  the  town, 
which  was  incorporated  in  1760.  The  Rev.  William  John- 
ston, formerly  of  ^^'orcester  and  Windham,  came  to  them 
in  1752  and  remained  about  one  year,  when  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Harvey  supplicil  them  for  a  time.  They  met  on  July  18th, 
1700,  ''  to  see  if  the  town  would  embrace  the  present  o})- 
portunity  of  sending  by  the  Rev.  IMr.  Kinkead  (who  was 
then  })robably  at  ^\'indham,  N.  H.)  to  Philadelphia  to  the 
Synod  or  Presbytery  there,  for  a  su])ply  or  gospel  minis- 
ter to  preach.  Voted ;  and  also  voted,  not  to  mention  any 
certain  sum  for  encouragement,  but,  that  if  any  came,  he 
should  be  treated  like  a  gentleman."     "In  1761,  voted  to 


Mi 


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■I 


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•I' . 

■  I 
I 


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t)  ■■ 


I,  I }  ?f 


128 


IIISTOUY   OF    PRKSnYTEPIANISM 


r  ','1   ■: 


■nt 


"  '^  '  s 


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]  ( 


J  'I 

4  J'  :< 


^ 

lll 

i! ' 

■' 

;'[:! 

^  ^ri 

•  '!'  f    J 

.  jJ  '   ^- 

raise  £ir)0  for  tho  support  of  tlio  frospol,"  and  a  committoe 
Avcro  aj)p()iiitc'(l  ''to  invite  ri'.u'uliir  ministers,  and  renew 
the  snpplieation  to  the  Synod  ol'  Philadelphia." 

A  Mr.  Towors  supi)lied  them  in  17('»4,  :ind  on  January 
8d  of  that  yoar  the  town  "  voted  to  commission  tlu;  Rev. 
Mr.  Morrow  to  send  us  a  minister  when  lie  returned  to 
Ireland,  iind  that  lie  should  hiiveaf^ood  new  heaver  hat 
if  he  would  acoej^t  this  eommission.  luirlit  persons  pro- 
tested against  sendinjx  to  Ireland."  At  a  snl)se(iueiit  meet- 
intr  ''  it  was  voted  to  authorize  tlu^  IJev.  Mr.  Morrow  to  act 
with  full  ])ower  to  send  a  laithl"ul  minister  of  the  gospel — 
a  (' ilvinistic  of  the  Presbyterian  Constitution.  Mr.  Mor- 
row should  receive  ei^ht  dollars  for  his  service."  He  did 
not  succeed,  for  none  came;  .'ind  in  March,  17()5,  they 
"voted  to  commission  Ilu^h  Wilson  to  <2;o  to  Philadeli)hia 
or  elsewhere  on  this  continent,  to  obtain  a  gospel  minister," 

In  May,  17GG,  a  INIr.  John  Morrison  landed  in  lioston. 
He  was  born  in  Pathfoot,  in  Scotland,  in  1743,  and  ii;ra(lu- 
ated  at  Pxlinburgh  in  1700.  On  November  2(lth,  1700,  he 
was  ordained  at  Peterboro  by  the  Boston  Presbytery, 
the  original  Londonderry  Presbytery  being  then  dissolved, 
for  it  may  be  here  mentioned  that  "in  170o  (according  to 
M'ebster),  the  Dutchess  I'resbytery  at  Cherry  Valley,  New 
York,  received  the  Rev.  Samuel  liunlop,  a  former  member 
of  the  Presbytery  to  the  eastward  of  Boston,"  which,  wlieu 
he  left  "was  terminated,  being  incapable  of  sitting  by  rea- 
son of  dis})ersion."  Also  the  Rev.  \\'illiam  Johnston,  who 
"was  born  in  Dublin  in  1713,  educated  and  studied  the- 
ology in  Edinburgh  (who  married  a  Miss  Cunnnins,  a 
fellow-passenger),  and  labored  as  we  have  seen  in  Worces- 
ter, Mass.;  in  Peterboro  and  Windham,  N.  H. ;  about  this 
time  moved  to  the  region  of  Sch(!nectadv,  bought  a  large 
tract  of  land  near  Cherry  Valley,  and  according  to  docu- 
mental history,  gathered  a  number  of  lanulies  of  Scotch 
and  Irish  descent  about  him. 

"  Plis  ])a])ers,  goods,  etc.,  were  burned  at  the  massacre  at 
Cherry  Valley."  Sonie  of  his  descendants  now  occupy 
rominent  positions  of  usefulness  in  the  State  of  New 


^ 


ork. 

Thus,  in  a  rivalry  of  twenty  years'  duration,  the  first 
Presbytery  "  finished  its  course."  Such  is  the  i)ower  of 
Boctarian  rancor,  that  the   nearer  divisions  are  to  each 


•c  at 

i\v<t 
of 


IX    NEW   ENGLAND. 


129 


othor,  tlicir  antipntliics  niv  nsunlly  or  often  stronp;  in  arl- 
viTso  |)r()i)i)rti(»n  — lliL'V  "bite  iin(l  ditvour  one;  luiothcr," 
;in<l  are  at  hast  at  times  "consumed  one  of  another," 
Tliese  two  (lid  not  now  say,  "  We  are  l)r('thren  ;  let  there 
1)('  no  strife  hctwccn  us,  for  the  Canaanite  and  Perrizite 
dwell  in  the  land.'' 

The  extinction  of  the  orijjinal  Presbytery  was  a  natural 
result  of  exi)edieney  and  conciliation,  of  a  compromise  with 
])riiieii>le. 

The  disease  bet^an  in  tiie  Ilillhouse  case,  and  with  all  the 
undying'  ^rasp  of  the  leprosy,  permeated  the  Presliytery, 
while  those  who  stood  on  Presbyterian  princii)les  under  all 
the  disiidvanta,u;es  and  odium  of  suspension,  and  even  at 
times  inconsistent  outbursts  of  passion,  amidst  all  their 
difheuhies  survived  and  trrew.  Presbyterianism,  from  the 
ordination  of  Timothy  down  to  the  present  hour,  never 
^^ained  any  ])ermauent  L'ood  by  compromise.  When  it  (>m- 
liraeed  the  ])rison  and  the  stake,  "  the  bh)od  of  the  martyrs 
lieeame  the  seed  of  the  church,"  But  when  the  London- 
derry Presl)ytery  liowed  down  to  expediency,  custom,  to 


popular    o})inion    (the    <j:reat    "ima,Lre    set    up 


New 


in 

En-land),  "rottenness  entered  int(;  its  bones,"  and  sep- 
ulture became  only  a  question  of  time.  The  terror  held  up 
by  LeMercier,  and  sanctioned  by  the  majiM'ity  of  his  Pres- 
bytery in  IT'iO,  was  that  '"to  receive  Mr.  Hillhouse  woidd 
make  Presbytery  very  ridiculous  in  the  eyes  of  the  peojilo 
of  New  P]nuland  "  (p,  55).  By  recognizing  the  action  of 
the  "council  "  in  his  case  as  valid,  said  Presbytery  l)asked 
undtn*  the  sunshine  of  ])o])ular  favor  for  h.'ss  than  thirty 
years,  then  committed /c7o  de  se,  and  had  a  burial  so  deep 
that  we  cannot  find  its  records,  epitaph  nor  mourners.  Ou 
the  other  hand,  the  principle  advocated  by  the  minority, 
that  to  receive  a  man  who  had  "  received  his  ordination  be- 
fore he  came  to  the  colonies  as  a  member  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland  "  (p.  54),  even  when  he  had  hired  himself  to  do 
con,ii;re<,fational  service,  and  served  the  ])eople  until  an  "  ex- 
parte  council  "  "  ordered  him  to  resijj;n  his  office,"  shewed  a 
l>rinci})le  of  vitality  and  consistency,  which,  while  it  made 
those  who  held  it  "very  ridiculous  in  the  eyes  of  the  ])eo- 
ple  of  New  England,"  has,  under  ''the  good-will  of  liim 
Avho  dwelt  in  the  busli"ir)eut,  xxxiii.  16),  extensively 
maintained  "  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,"  and  perpet- 
9 


I'lili 


♦  •> 


■'  s 


130 


IIISTOUY   OF    I'UKSnVTEUIANISM 


uatod  its  existenco  in  tho  bounds  of  that  Presbytery 
until  to-diiy.  I'rosbyteriiinisin,  wberevcr  or  ulicnever 
it  refuses  to  meet  its  opponents  in  any  "of  the  villa;fcs 
in  tlie  i)lain  of  Ono,"  and  ^'oes  "up  to  Jerusidenj  unto 
the  apostU'S  and  eUh'rs  al)out  this  (or  any)  (luestion," 
is  always  "stron;;  in  the  Lord."  Whentjver  it  tampers 
witii  principle,  and  bows  down  at  the  chinior,  or  for  tlie 
favor  of  the  niullitude,  it  becomes  like  Samson,  shorn  of 
liis  locks,  weak  as  expediency  itself.  Its  "glory  is  de- 
parted/' 

'I'he  history  of  Morrison  is  a  lamentable  one.  "He  wns 
the  first  settled  minister  in  the  town  of  I'eterboro,  N.  II. 
Althou^di  he  was  jmssesscd  of  more  than  ordinary  talent, 
he  soon  proved  to  be  intemperate  and  licentious.  I'res- 
bytery  suspended  him  for  a  time  from  his  ollice.  nnd 
finally  ternnnated  his  pastorate  and  ministry  in  March, 
1772.  He  then  visited  South  Carolina;  returned  and 
joined  the  American  army  at  ('and)ri(lfre,  Mass.,  in  177o. 
He  soon  after  went  over  to  the  liritish,  and  remained  with 
them  till  his  death,  which  took  place  at  Charleston,  South 
Carolina,  on  Dec.  lOth,  17.S2"  (///W.  of  Pel.).  "Deceitful 
men  shall  not  live  out  half  their  da^'s."  "  Stront;  tlrink  is 
rajj;in<f."  He  became  a  jtrofessed  atheist,  and  (HimI  an 
abandoned  prolligate."  Readi-r,  "who  niaketh  thee  to 
difter?"  The  frecjuent  attention  given  by  Presbytery  iii 
watch  and  care  to  his  case  will  be  subsequently  noticed. 

Windham  was  another  town  which  during  this  (piarter 
of  a  century  was  settled  by  Presbyterians.  It  had  pre- 
viously formed  a  ])art  of  Londonderry,  and  was  incorpor- 
ated in  1742.  In  1747  the  Rev.  W'm.  Johnston  was  in- 
stalled pastor,  and  the  ruling  elders  wer(?  then  Messrs. 
Hemphill,  Kinkead  and  Kyle.  Sim{)ly  for  want  of  sup- 
port, the  ])astor  was  dismissed  in  July,  1752. 

In  1753  a  meeting-house  was  erected,  and  on  applica- 
tion by  their  connnissioner  to  the  Synod  of  New  York  and 
Philadelphia,  the  Rev.  John  Kinkead  was,  as  their  pastor, 
Installed  in  Oct.,  1760.  Although  he  possessed  resp(?ctable 
talents  and  acquirements  as  a  jjreacher  of  the  gospel,  yet, 
not  maintaining  a  Christian  and  ministerial  tiei)ortment, 
and  being  chargeable  with  immoralities,  he  soon  lost  tho 
confidence  and  respect  of  his  people,  and  was  dismissed  in 
April,  1765  {Parker).    It  thus  appears  that  both  Johnston 


IN    NEW  ENdLAND. 


131 


P 


nnd  Kinkcad  wore  hero  iiistnllc(l  hy  tIi(M)ri(;inil  I.ondon- 
(IciTV  I'rcsliytt'ry,  and  as  Wiiidliaiu  svas  ori^dnally  a  pait  of 
I)('rrv  (or  the  old  parish  i,  so  up  till  ITC)")  tlu'ir  aHiiiitics  licld 
thciil  in  ('cc'li'siastical  rdlowsliip  with  the  Kcv.  W'ni.  Havid- 
son  and  his  associates.  lUit  "  soon  after  the  <lisniissioM  of 
the  Itev.  Mr.  Kinkead,  the  parish  pi'esented  a,  call  to  Ivev. 
Simon  Williams,  who  was  ordained  their  pastor  Doc,  ITOO, 
l)y  tlie  Boston  I'resl.ytery."  (  /*. ) 

Ashasheen  noticed,  the  Kev.  lluiih  Camphell  and  the 
llev.  lluj^di  Henry  preached  in  Maine  from   1720  till  1721. 
The  former  "  was  the  re^'ular  minister  of  tlie  town"  of 
Scarhoro  in   1720-21  on  "  a  salary  of  £50  (then  ('(pial  to 
iihout  8o().oO  in  specie),  i)eside  his  meat,  drink,  washing 
and  lod^in^^"     But  he  soon  left  on  account  of  the  small- 
iiess  of  his  salary,  and  in   .June,  1722,  the  town  unani- 
iiiously  invite(l    the   Kev.    Iluuh    Henry   to  become  their 
minister,  and   \iv,  continued   with    them  till   172').     From 
172S  till  his  death  in  1702,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Thompson  oflici- 
ated  as  town  minister,  and  during  that  pttriod  the  coulto- 
pition  were  with  him  ('on^n'e;iationa lists.     On  Au^nist  23<1, 
17(i2,  the  chureh  called  Mr.  Thos.  I'ierce  to  settle  in  the 
work  of  the  ministry  in  the  first  church  and  parish  in 
8carboro,  and  "  voted  that  Mr.  Thos.  Pierce  be  settled  in 
the  Presbyterian  orde;,  and  a}i,reeal>ly  to  the  Westminsl(>r 
Confession    of  Faitli "  (C/i.  Rcr.,  p.  lo).     Mr.  Pierce  was 
born    in   Newbury,   Oct.   11th,    1737,   and   ^^raduated    at 
Harvard  College  in  17o0.     He  was  ordained  at  Newbury 
Port  on   Nov.  24th,   17(;2.     In   17()3,  on   Sept.   22d,  four 
ruling  (;lders  were  elected  ''for  the  year,"     Mr.  Pierce  in  a 
few  years  sunk  down  "as  a  common  drunkard,  although 
he  continued  to  preach  up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  June 
2()th,  1775.     Immediately  after  his  decease  the  church  re- 
nounced Presbyterianisni  "  (St(nrr).     This  church  forms  a 
s])ecimen  of  several  in  New  England,  which  for  years  had 
a  vibratory  existence  between  these  two  forms  of  polity, 
and  which  eventually  settled  down  into  Congregationalism 
— such    as   Chester,   Ackworth    and   Goff'stown,  in   New 
Hampshire. 

During  a  part  of  this  time  at  least  (1743-1768)  the  Lon- 
donderry Presbytery  was  respectable  in  numbers — LeMer- 
cier,  Johnston,  McClenahan,  Harvey,  Caldwell,  Davidson, 
Wilson,  Rutherford,   Urquhart,    Dunlop,    and    probably 


'1  I 


132 


HISTORY   OF   PRESnYTKRIANISM 


I 


)  11 


others,  as  Clark,  of  Kiiifrston,  l)clonp;e(l  to  it,  yet  it  did  not 
j)()s,se.ss  vitulity.  iiesido  the  ctauscs  of  its  decay  already 
stated,  tliey  had  no  means,  or  seem  not  t')  liave  taken  any 
l)ain>:  to  instruct  younti;  men  for  tlie  ministry. 

Some  of  tliem,  as  Davidson  and  IvUthertbrd,  were  prol)a- 
l)ly  not  a  little  "  imsound  in  the  faith,"  while  the  immorali- 
ties of  others,  such  as  Kinkead  and  IIarv(\v,  were  highly 
injurious  to  ('hristianity.  In  these  twenty-five  years  the 
3^'rench  ("liurcli  and  others  became  extinct  hy  the  assimila- 
tion of  their  memlx'rs  and  their  of1''-!])rin<i;  to  thcMr  svnvround- 
ings.  The  death  of  LeMercier  and  Rutherford,  and,  it  may 
he,  others,  ilw  removal  from  their  bounds  of  ^IcClenahan, 
Johnston  and  Dunlop,  with  other  infliienccs,  all  conspired 
to  blot  it  out  about  the  end  of  this  (juarter  of  a  century, 
after  an  existence  of  about  forty  years.  Dunlop  ai)pears 
to  have  been  connected  with  it  about  twenty-five  years. 
"  lie  was  a  native;  of  Ireland,  a  graduate  of  Trinity  College, 
Dul)Hn,  and  having  removed  in  17G5  to  Cherry  Valley, 
N.  v.,  at  the  massacre  of  that  jjlace,  on  Novendjer  11th, 
1778,  his  family  were  slain.  He  alone,  with  one  daughter, 
escaped.  Under  the  protection  of  an  Indian  chief  he  stood 
and  beheld  the  destruction  of  his  earthly  hojx's,  his  home 
and  the  homes  of  his  friends,  melting  away  with  the  flames. 
He  survived  the  massacre  l)ut  a  short  time.  The  misfor- 
tunes of  that  day  carried  '  down  his  gray  hairs  with  sorrow 
to  the  grave.'"     (P.) 

The  reader  may  here  see  one  of  the  difficulties  of  the  au- 
thor in  preparing  this  history.  He  has  followed  Presbyte- 
rian writers  (Parker  and  Webster)  and  given  what  they 
liave  presented  above,  stating  that  the  Rev.  Samuel  Dunlop 
was  a  graduate  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  that  when 
Lindesay  became  the  ])atentee  of  Cherry  Valley,  N.  Y.,  and 
located  there  in  1740,  he  "  induced  Dunlop  by  liberal 
offers  to  aid  the  settlement,"  which  ho  did  by  influencing 
emigrants  to  come  from  Ireland  and  New  Hampshire,  tliat 
he  had  ministered  to  them  for  nearly  forty  years  (Parker, 
198),  and  that  his  misfortunes  at  the  Cherry  Valle}'-  mas- 
sacre in  1778  "  brought  down  his  gray  hairs  with  sorrow  to 
the  grave,"  that,  coming  from  New  England,  "he  was,  in 
1765,  received  by  the  Dutchess  Presbytery "  ( Webster), 
while  Greenleaf,  in  his  Ecelesiastlcal  Sketches  in  Maine,  says: 
"  The  Rev.  Samuel  Dunlop  was  born  in  Antrim  in  1715, 


I  t 


IN   NEW    ENGLAND. 


1^3 


miiii 


mafic  M.  A.  at  Edinhiirjxh  at  nineteen,  that  on  heinq 
licen.sed  he  oanio  to  America  in  17'^(>,  that  he  was  >^]\\\)- 
wrecUcd  on  Sable  Island,  landed  at  Canso,  that  he  taiiglit 
school  in  Draeut,  Mass.,  removed  to  Nr)l)lesl)oro,  in  ^Taine, 
that  he  resided  at  Booth  Bay,  Sheepscott  Ih'idj^e,  New  Cas- 
tle, and  then  in  Brunswick.  In  1747  he  was  ordained  in 
LeMercier's  meeting-house  in  Boston  for  Brunswick  (l>y  the 
Kev.  Messrs.  LcMercier,  Morton,  of  Coleraine,  Davidsim, 
A\'ilson  and  !McLenahan),  and  was  pastor  there  until  Octo- 
])er,  1760,  when  he  was  dismissed  (p.  05)  by  a  council  (  W.y 
J).  33),tliat  he  was  never  settled  again,  and  lived  in  Bruns- 
wick until  his  death,  June  2Gtb,  1776,  that  his  history  is  in 
nianuscri})t,  and  was  in  the  j)Ossession  of  th(!  Dunlop  fam- 
ily in  1821,  and  that  he  was  the  grandfather  of  the  ex- 
Governor  of  Maine  of  the  same  name." 

It  is  true  that  the  Rev.  H.  Dunlop  of  Cherry  Valley  per- 
suaded four  or  more  families  to  remove  from  Deiry,  N.  H., 
to  that  place  (p.  195),  and  that  he  ministered  to  them  for 
nearly  forty  years  (p.  198),  and  just  as  true  that  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Dunlt)p  lived  from  1736  till  1776  in  New  England, 
and  conse(|uently  never  "  became  a  member  of  tho 
Dutchess  Presbytery."     They  were  different  mr-n. 

xVmong  other  towns  reclaimed  from  tlu;  wilderness  dur- 
ing this  quarter  of  a  century  was  Bradford  (formerly  called 
Souhegan  East),  N.  H.  "In  1750  they  gave  a  call  succes- 
sively to  the  Rev.  Alexander  Boyd,  Rev.  Alexander  Mc- 
Dowell, and  to  Mr.  Samuel  McClintock,  but  in  each  case 
without  success.  A  meeting-house  was  erected  in  1755, 
and  on  Se})tember  28th,  1757,  the  Rev.  John  Houston  wiw 
ordained  by  the  Boston  Presbytery  pastor  of  this  church, 
which  had  been  organized  in  the  Presbyterian  order.  He 
was  born  in  Londonderry,  educated  at  Princeton,  N.  J., 
where  he  took  his  degree  in  1753,  and  studied  divinity 
with  the  Rev.  David  ^McGregor.  He  was  a,  conscientious 
and  a  good  man."     (P.) 

During  this  (piarter  of  a  century  a  change,  hearing  most 
cxtensivelv  u])on  the  Presbyterian  interests  in  America, 

11*'  ^ 

tooiv  j)la('e  in  New  York,  and  as  a  prominent  member  of 
the  P)()ston  Presbytery  (the  Rev.  D.  McCregor)  became  an 
actor  in  it,  I  now  brielly  present  the  case : 

After  the  atrocious  oppression  of  the  Rev.  Francia 
Makemie  by  Lord  Cornbury  and  hid  minions,  An  effort 


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134 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


I 


appears  to  liave  been  made  to  have  Presbyterian  preach- 
ing and  worshi})  in  tlie  Enj^lisli  lanr^iiage  maintained  in  that 
town.  We  find  the  case  referred  to  by  Vesey  [AHxidij 
Documents)  in  December,  1709,  when  writing  to  a  friend. 
He  says  "  that  the  dissenting  preaclier  is  likely  to  gain  no 
ground."  His  stay  was  brief,  but  the  peoi)le  kept  togetlici: 
and  met  for  worship  with  few  interruptions  and  with 
a  gradual  increase  of  numbers  until  1716,  Avhen  they  took 
measures  to  form  a  regular  congregation  ( IF".),  the  same 
year  (W.)  in  wliich  the  French  Presbyterians  were  per- 
mitted to  erect  a  churcli  in  Boston.  Thev  called  a  Mr. 
Anderson  and  worshipped  in  tlie  town  hall.  In  1718  they 
purchased  a  lot,  and  on  the  following  year  built  a  church.* 
Beside  collections  in  the  town,  they  were  aided  by  the 
Governor,  Council  and  Representatives  of  Connecticut. 
When  they  asked  incor})oration  from  the  Legislature  of 
New  York  as  Scots,  in  conseciuence  of  opposition  made  by 
the  vestry  of  Trinity  Church,  their  request  was  refused. 
Their  petition  was  in  1724  transmitted  to  the  "  Lords  of 
Trade."  They  ol^tained  aid  also  from  Philadelphia  and 
Scotland,  and  in  1730  their  house  was  finished.  Two  lead- 
ing men  opposed  the  settlement  of  Mr.  Anderson  as  pastor, 
and  the  trustees  of  New  PLiven  College  sent  missionaries  at 
their  request  to  erect  a  new  congregation.  This  Congrega- 
tionalist  effort  to  produce  division  did  not  eventually  suc- 
ceed, and  the  missionary  left  them  in  1726.  Pembertou 
and  Cumming  served  them  several  years.  "  In  1753  Peni- 
berton  was  blamed  by  some  of  the  people  (Scotsmen)  for 
neglecting  family  visiting,  Cumming  and  the  session  for 
introducing  Watts  of  their  own  accord,  and  both  ministers 
for  neglecting  to  recommend  the  catechism  at  baptism  and 
for  praying  when  asked  at  funerals."     (  W.) 

Both  were  soon  after  dismissed  at  their  own  request. 
Failing,  on  July  18th,  1754,  to  obtain  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bel- 
lamy from  Connecticut,  he,  in  1755,  reeonnnended  to  thciu 
"the  Rev.  David  McGregor,  of  Nutiield,  N.  H.,  as  likely  to 
suit  their  religious  peoi)le  and  the  Scotch."  They  sent  to 
him  an  "  invitation,"  and  even  the  Governor  himself  came 


*  Presbyterians  formed  a  congregfition  speaking  Englisli  in  New  York 
in  1716,  and  in  1716  the  French  Presbyterians  obtained  permission  to 
erect  tlieir  first  meeting-house  in  Boston. 


IN    NEW   ENGLAND. 


135 


to  New  England  to  persuade  him  to  go  to  New  York,  Imt 
his  Prcsbyterv,  when  met  at  Boston  on  May  14th,  1755, 
declared  that  they  luid  no  authority  to  remove  a  minister 
out  of  their  l)ounds,  and  he  saw  no  eneouragement  to 
ach'enture  himself  among  a  people  so  "divided  among 
tlicmselves."     (W.) 

I)Ut  about  what  should  a  congregation  aided  by  gov- 
ernors, colleges,  councillors,  representatives,  by  the  town 
of  New  York,  the  town  of  Philadelj>lna,  and  by  North 
Ih-itain  be  divided?  They  had  now,  for  above  a  quarter 
of  a  century,  a  large  finished  house  of  worship,  and  full 
effort  was  made  to  have  it  ])roperly  i)er})etuated  to  its  ap- 
propriate use.  The  secret  was,  divers  doctrines,  usages  and 
worship  had  been  hitroduced,  and  strife  ensued.  As  we 
have  already  seen  in  the  cases  of  Hillliouse  and  others,  to 
iiarmonize  the  two  species,  Presbyterianism  and  Congrega- 
tionalism, is  simply  impossible,  and  the  latter  had  now 
increasingly  permeated  this  church.  As  far  back  as  "  1724, 
out  of  seventeen  ministers  in  a  delegated  Synod,  six  were 
from  New  England."  (ir.)  Early  associations  and  cus- 
toms have  a  powerful  influence  upon  the  mind,  and  these 
men  could  not  easily  totally  divest  themselves  of  their 
Congregational  training.  Hence,  when  a  committee  was 
a])pointed  by  Synod  in  1752,  "the  general  plan  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland  as  practised  by  the  Synod  of  New 
York "  was  viewed  as  the  true  standard  of  Presbyterian- 
ism, and  they  conclude  "  that  as  to  the  methods  taken  to 
introduce  a  new  version  of  the  psalms  in  the  public  wor- 
ship, the  Synod  judge  it  to  be  disorderly,  and  always  to  be 
discountenanced  when  the  parties  in  matters  of  debate  in  a 
church  do  carry  about  private  subscriptions."  (Digest.') 
Said  committee  reported  in  1753  that  "  it  is  not  expedient 
at  present,  judicially,  to  recommend  a  change  in  the  ver- 
sion of  the  psalms,  lest  the  animosities  in  the  congregation 
sliould  be  more  inflamed."  (Diged.)  McGregor  did  not 
see  his  way  clear  to  leave  a  devoted  and  confiding  pastoral 
charge  in  order  to  dwell  in  a  tent  of  Kedar  among  "  ani- 
mosities." 

Owing  to  this  commingling  of  English,  Welsh  and  New 
England,  as  well  as  Scotch  and  Irish  teachings,    he  at 
nomination  had  in   1728,  according  to  the   Re\     Tohii 
Thompson  in  his  overture,  "  not  any  particular  system  of 


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HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERTANISM 


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doctrines  composed  by  ourselves  or  others  which  we  by 
any  judicial  act  of  our  churcli  have  a(lo])ted  to  be  the  arti- 
cles or  confession  of  our  faith,  etc.  The  most  that  can  bo 
said  is,  that  the  \\\'stniinster  Confession  of  Faith  is  the 
confession  of  the  faith  of  the  generality  of  our  members, 
ministers  and  people." 

Notwithstanding  that  they  had,  in  1736,  avowed  their 
adoption  of  "  the  Westminster  ("onfession  and  Directory 
without  the  least  variation  or  alteration  "  excepting  the 
clauses  anent  nia<j!s!ra((  s  drca.  mcra,  they  shewed  tlieni- 
selves  to  be  gradually  falling  into  Congregational  usage.-, 
as  we  have  seen,  until  at  least  a  few  of  the  ])eculiarities  i)f 
Scotch  (or  proi)er)  Presbyterians  were  abandoned  in  New 
York,  and  a  "session  intn^dueed  Dr.  Watts'  imitations  of 
the  Psalms  of  David,  the  constant  use  of  which  much  dis- 
eatislied  a  number  of  congregations."     But  this  was  not  all. 

According  to  the  historians,  Hetherington  and  ^MeC'rir, 
"the  secular  allairs  (in  Scotland  were  and)  should  be  un- 
der the  management  of  deacons."  The  deacon  "  had  the 
special  oversight  of  the  revenues  of  the  church  and  of  the 
poor."  "The  second  Book  of  Discipline  recognized  three 
ofiicers  for  three  things,  ministers,  elders  and  deacons  for 
three  things,  doctrine,  discipline  and  distribution,  the  dea- 
conship  to  have  the  care  of  ecclesiastical  goods."  "  TIh; 
collections  made  by  the  first  deacons  of  apostolical  a])- 
])ointment  were  not  only  of  that  which  was  collected  in 
manner  of  alms,  as  some  suppose,  but  of  other  goods, 
moveal)le  and  immoveable,  of  lands  and  possessions." 
The  Presbyterians  of  the  Synods  of  Philadelphia  and  New 
York  had  adopted  Stuart  of  Pardovan's  collections  for 
their  government,  which  directs  "  that  the  money  received 
by  contributions  be  faithfully  delivered  up  to  the  session, 
according  to  whose  judgment  and  appointment  the  deacons 
are  to  distrlhvte  the  church  (joot.U.'''' 

These  Presbyterians  now  resorted  to  policy,  to  a  Board 
of  Trustees,  or  a  connuittee  to  gain  the  strength  necessary 
to  support  the  gos])el,  and  after  fighting  it  over  for  two 
years  the  old  Scotch  j^arty  compelled  this  solitary  board 
of  intruding  trustees  to  agree  that  they  should  be  no  l(»ng.'r 
elected  in  their  present  form :  the  Synod  "ap])roved  said 
agreement,  and  judge  that  if  the  congregation  think  it  ex- 
pedient to  form  a  committee  for  the  management  of  their 


IN   NEW  ENGLAND. 


137 


i 


temporal  concerns,  the  said  committee  shall  bo  chosen, 
after  tiiat  time,  by  the  ministers,  elders  and  deacons,  with 
consent  of  tiie  congregation,  and  be  accountable  to  them 
for  tiieir  conduct." 

Tlio  development  and  influence  of  this  fibre  of  Congre- 
gationaHsm  will  appear  a  century  hence. 

From  these  innovations  the  proper  Presbyterians  of  New 
York  were  delivered,  by  returning  to  the  simi)licity  of 
their  scri|)tural  worshij)  and  government  under  a  minis- 
try from  Scotland  and  li'eland.  On  Deeemlier  8th,  IToo, 
Niithanicl  Ilazzard,  of  New  York,  wrote  to  Dr.  Bellamy 
that  "(JfUatly  has  sense,  learning  and  piety,"  and  on  No- 
vi'inbcir  17th,  17'")S,  "the  Scots  })eople  have  got  ui)  a  new 
iiici'ting-house,  Mr.  Gellatly  lias  been  preaching  in  it  for 
lour  W(H'ks."  (  W.)  Thus,  wliile  tlie  Presbyterians  of  tlio 
country  had  drifted  fntm  their  moorings,  there  were  found 
tlio.se  wlio  continued  to  walk  in  "the  old  })aths  and  good 
way,"  and  who  ought  to  have  been  sul)se(iuently  regarded 
as  the  true  or  pro})er  representatives  there  of  this  scriptu- 
ral regimen. 

It  is  well  at  such  times  to  hear  disinterested  observers, 
anil  William  Douglass,  M.  D.,  an  Ei)iscopalian,  in  Ills 
sunnnary  (vol.  2,  p.  147,  Tjondon,  17()0),  having  investi- 
'SAlvd  the  case,  tells  us:  "  The  dissenting  congregation  iu 
New  York,  though  under  a  Congregational  minister  from 
r.oston,  is  called  Presbyterian.  The  Scots  Presbyterians 
tlp'rc  are  modelled  according  to  the  Westminster  Stand- 
nnls  ajjpointed  by  the  Kirk  in  1(5-17.  These  are  projn'rly 
called  Calvinists  and  follow  the  Heidelberg,  Geneva,  Hol- 
land and  the  Huguenots.  They  use  an  established  form 
of  psalmody." 

As  the  Erskines  left  not  the  Church  of  Scotland,  Init 
lier  corruptions,  so  these  men  in  withdrawing  from  the 
"animosities,"  engend(>red  by  unseriptural  customs,  ought 
to  he  honored  for  their  attachment  to  gospel  ])rinciples. 
They  were  the  continuation  of  true  Presbyterianism  in  the 
central  and  soutlu>rn  colonies.  In  conse<p)enee  of  their 
earnest  and  r(!peate(l  applications  to  the  eeelvsiastical  body 
to  which  lu;  belonged,  the  Rev.  John  Mason  came  from 
Scotland  to  New  York  in  17')l.  As  the  Erskines  were 
nick-named  Scceders  in  Scotland,  so  a  certain  kinil  of  char- 
ity, but  not  that  which  is  "  the  very  bond  of  perfectness," 


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138 


HISTORY    OF   rUi:.S15VTi;iaANiSM 


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attcmptod  to  fasten  this  f!])itliot  upon  them.  ITenee,  s:\vs 
the  hio<i;rapher,  in  his  "  Memoirs  of  Dr.  Ivouers,"  tliey  had 
seceded  from  the  (irsi  Presl)yterian  chmeii  heeaus(,',  "  in- 
curably dissatisfied  with  the  system  of  {)sahnod3',  which 
the  majority "  (not  the  denomination,  nor  any  church 
court,  hut  one  session,)  "had  cho.sen  to  adopt."  By  "re- 
ceiving!;, observing,  keeping  pure  and  entire  ''  the  religious 
worship  and  ordinances  which  God  has  appointed  in  his 
word,  "tliey,  the  '  seceders,'  grew  and  prospered."  With 
the  excejition  of  the  congregation  of  Newhuryport,  which 
was  forced  out  of  Congregationalism  by  civil  endtarrass- 
ments,  and  which  was  admitted  with  its  Congregational 
"  Bay  State  Version  "  of  the  j)salms  h}'  the  Boston  Presby- 
tery, all  tile  Presbyterians  in  New  England  had  previous!}'- 
and  during  tins  quarter  of  a  century,  continued  to  use  the 
version  api)ointed  by  the  (icneral  Assembly  of  the  Church 
of  Scotland  in  IboO,  to  be  sung  in  congregations  and  fami- 
lies. So  far  from  seceding  from  the  first  Presbyterian 
church  in  New  York,  tiie  proper  Presbyterians  were  over- 
borne by  those  of  New  England  origin,  who  had  artfully 
imported  and  introduced  the  139  psalms  as  "  imitateil  ■' 
and  Christianized  by  the  liev.  Dr.  Watts,  by  "carrying 
about  private  subserij)tions  in  a  disorderly  manner," 
{DUjed.)  Instead  of  being  justly  charged  with  seceding 
from  the  first  church,  they  simply,  as  Presbyterians,  be- 
lieved that  lawfully  constituted  church  courts  were  the 
proper  authorities  to  determine  and  change  the  worshi}) 
of  God  as  to  matter  and  manner  in  "  the  churches,"  and 
not  the  simple  "  majority  "  of  one  congregation  operating 
on,  through  or  by  a  session.  For  this  attachment  to  i)rin- 
ciple  and  to  their  church  government,  they  are  sneered  at 
as  "  incurably  dissatisfied." 

Plad  this  "  ineurabU'  dissatisfaction"  taken  and  held 
possession  of  "  the  first  church  "  of  New  York,  and  of 
those  wdio  have  folh)wed  the  example  and  practice  of  that 
"  majority,"  Presbyterianism  to-day  in  this  land,  instead 
of  l)eing  divided  into  its  ditferent  "schools  "  and  sectarian 
bodies,  would  have  stood  forth  with  a  majesty  unequalled 
and  a  moral  j)ower  unaj)i)roachable  by,  either  separately  or 
combined,  the  divisions  of  Prelacy  or  the  ramifications  of 
Congregationalism.  It  would  also  have  so  permeated  New 
England  as  to  aid,  if  not  enable,  Puritanism  to  throw  off 


IN   NEW   ENGLAND. 


139 


III 

\m\ 

1  irif! 

■    \ 

i  ''■'■ 

the  hlif]^lit  of  Sociniaiiisni — possibly  to  have  prevented  its 
existence. 

As  the  ''  little  cloud,  liicc  a  jiian's  hand,"  ]>rouf,dit  alniiid- 
ance  of  rain,  so  "tlic  Ix'.uinninu;  of  strife,"  and  not  the 
"leaving  off  of  contention  "  by  that  "  majority  "  (on  Con- 
grcjiationnl  principles;  in  a  sin,!j;le  con^zreuation,  has 
j)0ured  floods  of  error  and  division  anionti  those  who  were 
(and  ought  to  have  continue(l  to  be)  l>rethren;  and  after 
the  experience  and  sectarian  rancor  of  above  a  century — 

"Time  but  tlie  improssion  deeper  makes, 
As  streams  tlieir  channels  deeper  wear." 


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HISTORY  OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


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CHAPTL.     v'. 

1768-1793 — Development — The  era  of  growth — Prior  possession — Diffi- 
culties— J»)]in  Miirniy— "  Woolers" — A  dileninia — Ordained  in  Pliil- 
adelpiiia — Poothbay — Dismissed  himself" — He  developed  Presbyte- 
rianism  in  Maine — Watched — The  first  minute  respecting  him — Pres- 
bytery of  Hoston,  twelve  pastors — Yet  they  could  iiot  extinguish  him 
— Presbytery  at  Eastward — Its  constitution — A  Fast-Day — Fiuida- 
nientals  in  five  articles — Each  certifies  his  former  standing — A 
question — "Tiie  town  clerk  read  the  contracts" — "Judged" — Anil- 
lustration  of  the  ductility  of  Presbyterianism — Samuel  AVheeler — 
Newmarket — Boscawen — ''Brute  Beasts" — Ready  to  join  with  other 
Presbyteries — Send  a  mission  to  Halem  Presbytery — "Various  ani- 
mosities"— Murray  at  ',^2 — Loss  of  minutes  for  fifteen  years — The 
Roll  in  1770 — Division  into  a  Synod  j)roposed — Rev,  Geo.  Gilmore — 
John  Eliot — Mr.  Noble — Petitions — John  Morrison — His  case  fearful 
— Joel  ii.  17 — Parsons  and  Moorehead  in  strife — A  citation — Mr. 
Patrick  —  Blaiulford — Nottingham  —  Hampton  Falls — Gilmore  or- 
dained in  1773 — McLean  installed  at  Bristol — Moorehead  to  apologize 
— An  expedient  disapproved — Moorehend's  death — Dr.  AVhittaker 
and  Salem  congregation  admitted — Rev.  N.  Merrill — Psalmody — The 
"  felt  want  " — Rottenness — Valve  defective— Supply — Com.  to  Boston 
reported — Voted — Presbytery  at  Eastward — Animosities — Strict  dis- 
cipline— Murray  rejected — r)eclinature  by  Long  Lane — They  called 
Murray,  he  promised  if — A  remonstrance — "  Qiaun  primum" — A  mu- 
tual comi)act — Translation  of  M.  oi)posed — Valuable  congregation — • 
Ten  years'  ownership — Moonlight  of  Christianity — Tilt — Calls — July 
4th — 1776  Presbytery  met — Debate — Parsons'  death — Sermon  on  Orig- 
inal Sin — Reason  No.  5 — No.  8— Murray  "  transported  " — A  day  of 
desolation. 


.2,    ,! 


'■i 


:       : 


Development  stands  prominently  forward  amonp;  the 
beauties  of  nature  from  inception  to  maturity.  This  is 
api)licable  not  only  to  the  animal  and  vegetable  king- 
doms, but  also  to  benevolent  associations  of  men,  and  es- 
pecially to  the  visible  churcli  in  all  ages — in  all  lier  de- 
partments— as  "  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth." 

We  have  sketched  the  introduction  of  Presljyterianism 
into  New  England,  and  we  enter  upon  the  era  of  its 
growth.     In  doing  this,  we  must  remember  that  the  field 


'iilli 


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I 


IN   NEW    ENGLAND. 


141 


■was  not  only  limitod,  but  unj]fcnial,  iindor  the  Procrustean 
domination  of  another  species  of  ecclesiastieism  sustained 
by  its  own  civil  ])ower. 

"  Hence  "  the  oppressed  Irisli  hretliren  and  Presbyterian 
strangers"  had  to '•contend  earnestly  for  "  their  "faith" 
from  their  first  coming  to  New  En^hmd. 

The  exceptions  to  this  were  Ibund  only  where,  as 
pioneers,  tliey  in  colonies  obtained  jirior  i)ossession  of  the 
soil,  and  removed  the  forest,  as  was  the  case  in  London- 
derry, N.  II.  From  174o  till  ITOS,  by  native  increase  and 
innni<:ration  from  this  ouv,  othei-  eoniirei^ations  were 
formed  in  new  towns,  and  during  this  (piarter  of  a  century, 
under  the  original  "'Irish"  and  Boston  Presbyteries, 
some  of  them  were  ])rosj)ering  and  otiiers  d(!clining,  or, 
like  the  French  Church,  were  dead.  In  tlie  meantime,  in 
entering  on  this  period,  we  labor  under  dilHculties  in  not 
knowing  in  many  cases  what  was  done  by  the  churcli 
courts,  and  how  they  took  care  of  the  flock  as  overseers  ; 
for  the  minutes  of  the  first  Presbytery  have  perished,  and 
the  records  of  the  other,  if  kept  at  the  time  from  1755  till 
1770,  are  lost.  From  fragmentary  sources,  however,  we 
learn  not  a  little  of  what  was  done  by  way  of  church  ex- 
tension. 

Before  I  revert  to  church  courts,  to  congregations  and 
families,  I  begin  with  one  man  who  fills  a  large  space  in 
the  history  of  Presbyterianism  in  New  England.  John 
Murray  was  born  six  ndles  from  I>allymena,  on  May  22d, 
1742;  united  with  the  church  at  fifteen;  was  educated  at 
the  University  of  Edinburgh,  where  he  took  his  degree  of 
M.  A. ;  received  a  license  (as  he  claimed)  from  the  class  in 
Wooler,  England,  signed  by  Isaac  Wood,  Moderator, 
Robert  Trotter,  clerk,  and  nineteen  other  ministers,  and 
began  to  preach  at  eighteen  years  of  age.  He  was  soon 
after  charged  with  forging  his  certificate  of  licensure,  and 
other  acts  were  alleged  against  him  in  connection  with  the 
matter  before  he  was  twenty-three. 

When  the  Presbytery  of  Ballymcna  questioned  his  li- 
cense, he  sent  it  to  some  in  Edini:>urgh  to  have  it  attested 
by  such  as  knew  the  hands  that  signed  it.  Instead  of 
taking  better  steps,  they  wrote  on  the  back  of  the  same 
sheet  a  certificate  attesting  that  "  he  had  indeed  gone  to 
Northumberland ;  had  certainly  been  licensed  there ;  had 


142 


HISTORY   OF   PRESnYTERIANISM 


8  V 


li 


■J. 


preached  several  times  in  Scotland  in  consequence  thereof, 
and  was  well  aj)i)r()ved  hy  them  ; "  and  then  sent  it  to  him 
sitrned  hy  themselves,  with  the  words  moderator  and 
clerk  of  Prcshytery  annexed  to  their  names,  winch  tliey 
were  not.  This  certiticatc  caused  him  troui)le  durin<^  his 
whole  life;  for  heinj:;  shown  in  the  Synod  of  Ulster  at 
Londonderry  (allhouj^h  hy  another  in  his  ahsence  h(^  al- 
ways said),  it  immediately  hecame  an  ohject  of  attention. 
He  was  now  accused  of  forjzery. 

Meanwhile  his  Scottish  friends  had  written  to  him,  own- 
ing  the  fraud,  hut  heseechin^  him  not  to  ruin  them,  as 
their  i)rospects  in  the  churcli  wen?  ;j;ood.  Kather  than 
ruin  them  and  fijive  his  own  enemies  a  triumph,  which  at 
that  age  he  was  too  proud  to  endure,  he  (U'lended  the 
paper  as  genuine.  {Vc.r.}  "When  hardly  twenty-one  he 
came  from  Ireland  to  New  York,  and  was  in  ^hly,  170-'), 
ordained  and  settled  for  several  months  as  successor  to  the 
Rev.  Gilhert  Tennent,  in  Philadelphia.  The  charge  fol- 
lowed him,  and  while  the  l*reshytery  of  Philadeljihia 
acted  in  the  matter  with  wisdom  and  ])rudence,  the  first 
wrong  step  had  j)lunged  him  in  the  mire,  and  each  suc- 
ceedins;  one  sunk  liim  deeper.  He  wrote,  "the  frown  of  a 
holy  CJod  was  on  the  thing,  and  everv  mensure  of  defence, 
either  pn^nised  or  actually  taken  by  the  authors  of  the])(i))cr, 
only  increased  the  emharrassment  of  him  whom  they 
meant  to  defend."  His  whole  character  now  hecame  sus- 
picious. Other  things  were  alleged,  hut  never  judicially 
investigated,  although  inlluencing  the  result.  (  Vcrmibjca.) 
He  ohtained  certificates  from  the  Preshytery,  from  the 
ciders  and  from  115  heads  of  families  in  his  congregation 
in  Philadelphia,  and  removed  to  Boothhay ;  while  some 
months  after,  not  appearing  to  defend  himself,  the  case 
a})peared  conclusive,  and  Presbytery  excommunicated  him 
on  April  7th,  1767. 

His  retrospective  view  of  the  case  will  (D.  V.)  be  after- 
wards presented. 

Such  is  the  written  account  of  him,  and  without  casting 
away  current  liistoric  statements,  I  hero  present  the  fol- 
lowing. The  reader  can  judge  the  discrepancy,  if  any,  in 
facts.  We  cannot  at  sight  ap])reciate  the  spiritual  condi- 
tion of  the  colonists  who  formed  the  Temple  and  Dunbar 
emigrations  and  their  descendants,  for  many  years  after 


IN    NEW   ENGLAND. 


143 


l.'UidinL:  in  Maine,  llcniovod  from  the  cxtonsivo  cnjoy- 
mcnt  of  the  means  of^raco,  to  liavc  in  tlu'  wilderness  only 
'"silent  Sal»l)aths,''  their  pri'vioiis  knowledge,  love  and  Tear 
ol'  (lod  could  not  increase,  and  many  Ui'canie  (it  is  he- 
lieved)  extensi\  Iv  indill'erent.  They  did  not  totallv 
ne<j;lect '*  tlio  asstmblin^^  ol'  themselves  toi^ethcr '' on  Sai)- 
hatlis,  to  sini,'  jjsalms,  to  pray,  read  the  Divine  word  and 
portions  of  sermons,  or  other  religious  works,  which  they 
had  brought  with  them.  Vet,  after  years  of  deprivation, 
even  when  visited  occasionally  by  transient  ])reaehers, 
their  case  became  deplorable — ""  No  man  cared  ibr  their 
souls."  Even  the  Boston  I'resbylery,  whin  applied  to, 
nej,deoted  them.  (Sew.,  )>.  272.) 

Jk)othl»ay  was  incorporated  Decemb(T  22d,  1763,  and 
the  inhal>itants  were  cheered  by  the  comin*:;  of  Mr.  John 
]\Iurray  in  the  same  year.  (An  imcle  by  marriajie)  Mr. 
Andrew  Heed,  by  iir<i;ent  solicitations,  drew  hini  to  visit 
them.  Ueed,  when  a  younij;er  man,  spent  at  least  one 
winter  Ibr  weeks  at  a  distant  lonely  spot,  cuttinjj;  wood  and 
hvin;^  in  a  cany).  On  his  return,  as  he  was  constantly  ex- 
])osed  to  the  Indians,  to  wolves,  as  well  as  to  the  often  in- 
tense cold,  ho  was  asked  if  h(>  were  not  afraid?  His  an- 
swer was  ener;2;etic  and  to  the  i)oint:  "  JIad  not  1  my  IJible 
with  me,  and  was  not  that  enou-di?" 

Besides  his  influence,  Robert,  the  father  of  John  Mur- 
ray, had  come  to  reside  in  'J'ownsend.  Hence,  says  SeW- 
ali  (p.  34(3),  "Ninety  })oiinds  sterling  ])er  annum  as  a 
salary  was  subscribed  at  once."  They  were  to  give  to  him 
two  hundred  ticres  of  land  and  build  for  him  an  house. 
As  the  church  record  has  it,  "  The  Lord  s})irited  up  the 
inhal)itants  so  that  it  was  (piickly  tilled  u]>."  Still,  ho 
left  them  in  Fel)ruary,  17()1,  and  on  the  17th  of  May  the 
Presbytery  of  New  York  reported  to  the  Synod  "  that  they 
have  received  Mr.  John  Murray,  a  candidate  Iron)  Ireland, 
under  their  care."  On  a  request  "  made  from  the  First 
Philadelphia  Presbytery,  also  from  Mr.  CJilbert  Tennent 
and  his  congregation,  praying  supplies,"  Mr.  Murray  was 
aj)pointed  there  four  Habi3atlis,  in  July,  1704.  There,  as 
his  successor,  he  was  ordained,  and  his  labors  were  emi- 
nently blessed  in  building  up  that  church.  The  dew  of 
his  youth  was  now  upon  him,  and  not  a  few  rejoiced  in 
his  ministry,  until  his  "  sin  found  him  out."  Consequently, 


i  I 


,1 


ill' 

i  1.  I 


'  :i 


^i 


144 


HISTORY    OF    PRESnYTKIUAMSM 


on  Miiy  22(1,  ITHd,  tho  first  Prosbytory  of  IMiilndcliiliia  re- 
])orU'(l,  "  that  tlu'v  have  ordained  Mr.  .lohn  Murray  since 
our  last  Synod  ;  hut  that  some  char^zcs  since  that  were  hiid 
in  ajzainst  him  rcsjicctin;:  liis  moral  character,  which  arc 
not  yet  decided  hy  the  I'reshytery/'  His  casf  was  then 
delerred,  and  (»n  May  21sl,  ]7<)7,  said  Presl)ytery  report, 
"that  they  have  de]iosed  Mr.  Murray  since  our  last." 

l'crha|is  the  people  in  Jioothhay  did  not  know  all  tla; 
uhove  particulars,  i)ut,  it*  tlicy  did,  tlieir  connnissionors  to 
the  I'reshytery  at  J'hiladelpliia  reported  ditlerently.  To 
liim,  Andrew  iU-ed  wrote,  '"We  are  lirmly  resolved  to  in- 
sist upon  your  [iromise,  to  the  uttermost,  as  we  l)elieve 
they  have  <j!;ot  you  settled  there  l)y  IVaud  and  treachery, 
by  stoppin*;'  both  your  letters  and  ours"  (]>.  347).  Tho 
I^ri'sbytcry  ol'  rhiladelpliia  did  not  heed  their  a])peal,  and 
their  commissioners  went  before  the  Synod  of  New  York 
and  Philadelphia.  '"Tho  jx^tition  ot"  the  town  set  forth 
puch  a  statement  of  facts  and  documentary  eviden(;e,  that 
they  did  not  doul)t  their  success,  if  once  they  came  betbro 
so  conscientious  a  court  as  the  Svnod."  iJh.)  "Andrew 
Reed  was  at  tlu;  head  of  the  commission  in  prosecutmg 
their  cause.  Tlie  papers  W(M'e  all  returned  with  the  min- 
utes of  Pr(>sl)ytery  whereby  ^Tr.  Murray  was  liberated,  in 
manner  and  form  as  full  as  desired."  ilh.  848.) 

"  In  three  months  he  returned.  The  town  oflicers  and 
people  <!;athered  under  the  new  frame  of  their  mcctinj.?- 
house,  the  meetinj:  was  o'pened  with  praver,  and  ^Ir.  Mur- 
ray stated  fully  all  their  transactions  with  him."  Whether 
true  or  false,  their  town  and  session  records,  and  his  own 
j)rivate  diary,  jjive  extensive  details  of  their  })ast,  then 
present  and  subscMpient  procedure. 

In  the  meantime  such  a  mind  could  not  be  hermetically 
sealed,  even  in  the  i)rimeval  forests  of  Maine.  On  coming 
to  New  England,  as  he  thought  he  had,  as  an  ordained 
minister,  dismissed  himself  from  the  Philadel[)hians,  and 
finding  a  number  of  his  own  countrymen  in  or  near  the 
j)lace  of  his  adoption,  he  gathered  a  congregation,  ordained 
elders,  eventually  associated  with  himself  other  clergymen, 
previously  Congregationalists,  and  tbrmed  the  Presbytery 
wi '•'' tlie  Enstwardy  He  regarded  his  dei)osition  as  an  at- 
tem])ted  assuni])tiou  of  authority,  whioh  he  disclaimed. 
As  the  Synods  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  then  alone 


.Ml 
1(1 

10 
IC(1 

at- 


l. 


IN   NE^V    ENGLAND. 


145 


existed,  and  as  ncitlier  of  the  two  Presbyteries  of  New 
ICnirland  hud  any  connection  with,  and  no  suhordination 
to  them  and  as  ho  did  not  trouhU'  cither  of  them,  so  lie 
(without  h't)  spread  hiriiscU"  out  in  his  woriv  of  the  min- 
istry. While  lie  was  not  hiiulcivd,  ho  was,  however, 
clost'ly  watched. 

On  May  12th,  17G8,  aconiniunictation,  "sij^Mied  by  eleven 
'  associatcfl  pastors'  in  J^ostoii,  with  Mr.  John  Moorehcad 
at  ihcir  foot,  was  pui)lislicd  in  the  M(issarhii,settM  Gazelle, 
and  in  answer  he  sayn,  in  an  '  appeal,' dated  Hoothhav, 
June  22d,  1708:  'If  I  speak,  I  am  suspended;  if  1  preach, 
1  am  ^'azetted  ;  if  silent,  tleposed.'" 

While  their  regular  records,  covcrinfj;  the  date,  appear  to 
be  lost,  the  followinjj;  statement  from  a  fragmentary  paper 
has  heen  ])reserved,  and  it  speaks  ])lainly : 

"The  first  minute  respeetiiiu;  tia!  Kev.  Mr.  Murray  at 
Londonderry,  17G'.),  when  llev.  y\v.  Moorehead  was  present. 

'•This  Presbytery,  findin;;'  that  the  settlement  of  Mr. 
Jolm  Murray,  at  Uoothbay  >  Eastward),  is  irregular;  tluit 
lie  (though  })rofessing  himself  a  Presbyterian  minister) 
has  not  otlered  to  join  himself  to  any  Presbytery  of  New 
England  that  we  know  of.  That  he  stands  charged  with 
gross  immoralities,  for  which  he  is  now  actually  under  a 
sentence  of  deposition  by  the  General  Synod  of  Ulster,  in 
Ireland.  That  some  parts  of  his  conduct  in  America  (to 
say  the  least)  are  exceeding  dark  and  doubtful.  That  he 
is  living  under  a  censure,  and  has  been  rejected  by  the 
Presbytery  of  Philadeli)hia,  by  which  he  was  ordained. 

''  In  consideration  of  these  things,  this  Presbytery  is 
unanimously  of  opinion,  that  it  is  proper  to  caution  their 
members  from  having  any  communion  with  the  said  Mr. 
John  Murray,  as  they  would  not  practically  renounce 
communion  with  the  whole  body  of  Presbyterians  in  the 
Synods  of  Ulster,  New  York  and  Philadelphia ;  and  as  they 
would  not  expose  themselves  to  the  discipline  of  this 
Presl)ytery; 

"That  a  copy  of  this  minute  be  transmitted  to  each  of 
the  congregations  belonging  to  this  Presbytery. 
"Attest,  J.  Strickland, 

"  Presbytery  Clerk." 

The  Presbytery  of  Boston  then  consisted  of  twelve  set- 
10 


'mI? 

r 

1 

\ ! 

r^ 


146 


HISTORY   OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


mi 


^-  ii  y  y 


i  4 


■  I 


u 


tied  pastors/with  their  elders,  and  tliis  "minute  "manifests 
an  average  "  taking  heed  to  themselves  and  to  the  ilock 
over  the  which  the  Holy  Ghost  luid  made  them  hishops." 

In  view  of  the  ])ower  and  activity  of  tiie  man,  it  was  all 
necessary,  yet  it  did  not  extinguish  him ;  ibr  within  two 
years  we  have  regular  records  connnenced,  from  which 
these  extracts  are  taken  : 

"Minutes  of  the  first  Preshvterv  at  Eastward,  crechMl 
June  27th,  1771,  at  the  meeting-house  in  Boothhay  (^now 
Maine).''  After  jileading  their  destitution,  in  their  con- 
stitution it  is  stat(!d  :  "  It  having  pk'ased  Almighty  God  in 
his  adorahle  i)roviilence  hy  a  series  of  wonderful  steps  to 
bring  and  tix  one  minister  of  Presbyterian  principles,  and 
to  convince  and  bring  over  thereto  two  others  of  the  Con- 
gregational way,  it  seemed  to  ht^  a  special  and  very  ))artie- 
ular  call  to  them  to  associate  themselves  into  a  Preshy- 
tery  at  this  time,  and  they  judged  that  they  could  not  be 
safely  accountable  for  the  neglect  or  delay  of  that  im- 
portant step." 

"  For  all  these  reasons,  the  said  three  ministers,  after  the 
most  mature  consideration  and  diligent  weighing  of  this 
affair,  did  resolve  to  con.stltKtc  themselves  into  a  Presbytery 
by  the  name  of  the  FirM  Pm-^hi/U'rij  at  the  E<iHtw(ird,  and 
having  tor  that  purpose  conversed  with  their  own,  and  in- 
vited the  other  regular  Presbyterian  churches  here  that 
are  destitute  of  pastors  to  accede  to  it  by  sending  each 
their  elder  to  take  a  seat  with  them,  and  finding  that  this 
stej.  is  much  desired  ]\v  the  generality  of  God's  pcoph^  in 
these  parts,  and  that  several  vacant  chunihes  have  sent 
their  elders  here  for  that  purpose.  Theretbre  the  said 
ministers,  together  with  the  ruling  elders  assembled,  did 
resolve  that  this  day  ])e  set  a])art  as  a  day  of  fasting  and 
prayer,  and  that  the  intended  Prcsbi/tcry  be  constituted 
after  the  public  worship  is  concluded,  and  that  the  ]\ev. 
Mr.  Murray  is  chosen  to  lead  in  that  business.  Put  that 
this  i^resbytery  may  stand  distinguished  from  all  sectaries 
of  every  class,  we  think  it  our  duty  to  declare  expressly 
the  principles  on  which  as  fundamentals  the  same  is  now 
constituted,  which  are  as  follows : 

"  I.  We  hold  the  Scriptures  as  alone  of  absolute  authority 
in  all  matters  of  faith  and  duty. 


h 


IN   KEW  ENGLAND. 


U'i 


"  TI.  The  doctrines  of  the  Westminster  Confession  of 
Faith,  catechisms,  hirger  and  shorter,  we  beheve  to  1)0 
founded  on  tlie  Word  of  Ciod,  and  as  such  take  them  to  he 
tiu'  (confession  of  our  faitli. 

"HI.  We  adopt  tiie  Directory,  etc.,  for  substance,  re- 
ceive tlie  form  of  ])rocess,  first  and  second  Booivs  of  Disci- 
])line,  with  tlie  Acts  of  Assembly  that  are  collected  by 
fetewart  and  Dundas  for  the  subst:ince  thereof. 

"  IV.  W(!  ])roniise  (.hie  submission  to  the  authority  of 
this  Presl)ytery  in  the  Lord. 

''  V.  We  will  lay  ourselvc^s  out  for  the  peace  and  up- 
buildinsi  of  the  visible  church  in  this  rejiion. 

"  VI.  We  will  never  withdraw  from  this  Presbytery  but 
by  its  rules,  etc. 

'"Vll.  We  will  receive  ministers  and  churches  on  this 
plan,  etc. 

"  Vill.  This  Presbytery  shall  be  joined  to  a  Synod  as 
soon  as  one  can  be  formed  within  our  reach. 

"  IX.  We  confess  our  sins,  etc. 

"  X.  We  will  do  all  in  our  power  to  counsel  and  assist 
our  brethren,  etc. 

"  Uj)on  all  which  articl(>s,  we,  the  subscribers,  do,  in  the 
name  of  (lod,  constitute  ourselves  into  a  Presbytery  by 
solenm  prayer,  etc.,  and  in  conse(iuence  thereof,  dechire 
ourselves  ])oss(.'ssed  of  all  powers  and  rijrhts,  etc.,  lawfully 
claimed  by  any  Presbytery  in  the  Christian  Church,  and 
therefore  we  take  instruments. 

"JosKPir  Phinck,  ^b)derator, 

"JoH.N  iMiLLKH,  Presbytery  clerk. 

"John  Murray. 

"  John  Hkatii,  rulinu:  elder  from  the  church  at  Roothbay. 

"  D.vvii)  l)u\MN<;,  elder  from  the  church  at  Brunswick. 

"  W.M.  Inks,  ruling  eld(T  from  Bristol. 

"John  Mkrrill,  ruling  elder  from  Topsham. 


"  'p. 


To  ))revent  slanderous  reports  before  they  enter  on  any 
other  judieial  acts,  each  minister  certifies  his  former 
standhig." 

Joseph  Prince  was  ordained  by  a  council  in  IToT.  After 
laboring  fourteen  yenrs  Ik?  was  dismissed  by  a  council 
and  recommended  l)y  them,  appi-oved  hy  the  church,  and 
is  now  in  contract  with  the  North  Parish  in  Pownalboro, 
etc.    His  standing  was  approved. 


.  '■} 

'lffll 

i 

t 

I 

;  i 


t19 

1 

• 

1 

\           i 
\          i. 

\     i: 

\           '      i 
\               ' 

i  iii 


..! 


I 


148 


HISTORY   OF  PRESBYTERIAN  ISM 


John  Miller,  ordained  at  Brunswick  in  1762  by  a  connril, 
and  is  now  the  settled  pastor  tliere.  lie  is  now  convinced 
of  the  detects  of  tliat  constitution,  and  cannot  lontrer  Ue- 
long  to  tluit  sect,  and  is  fully  convinced  of  the  seriptund 
character  of  the  Presbyterian  yjlan,  and  is  himself  a  Pres- 
byterian from  principle,  and  his  people  mostly  desire  to 
bo  under  this  government,  and  have  sent  an  elder  for  this 
purpose,  etc.     They  then  enrolled  him  and  his  church. 

C^ucstion.  Can  Congregational  ordination  bear  these 
brethren  out  in  a  judicial  capacit}^  as  Presbyterians,  act- 
ing in  the  alTairs  of  other  churches? 

Answer.  A  distinction  is  to  be  regarded  between  the 
efsence  and  the  circumstance.  All  that  is  essential  to  or- 
dination is  a  lawful  call — imposition  of  hands  of  ordained 
Presbyters  with  fasting  and  prayer  in  circumstances  qtiud 
fieri  nu)i  d eh u  it  factum  valet. 

The  ordaining  to  particular  churches  is  very  erroneous, 
as  we  judge  ordination  makes  a  man  a  minister  through 
the  whole  visible  church. 

llie  Ree.  John  Murray  presented  his  declaration,  main- 
taining that  in  17G5  he  was  ordained  a  minister  by  the 
first  Presljytery  of  Philadelphia,  and  installed  pastor  of 
the  second  church  there — that  he  was  dismissed  on  two 
testimonials  (intending  to  go  to  Euroj)e  on  account  of  his 
health)  as  a  minister  in  good  standing,  which  testimonials 
he  produced  to  this  Presbytery — that  some  time  after  said 
Presbytery  suspended  and  then  deposed  him.  Being  con- 
scious of  the  illegality  of  these  their  acts,  he  took  no  no- 
tice of  them — that  he  came  here  and  was  installed  here  on 
the  first  Thursdav  of  August,  17G6. 

No  Presbyterian  minister  being  near  enough,  he  led  in 
that  work  himself.  The  town  clerk  read  the  contracts  be- 
tween "himself  and  this  people,  the  history  of  which,  at- 
tested b}'  the  session,  he  read  from  the  session  book.  He 
has,  consequently,  exercised  the  pastoral  office  in  all  its 
parts.  He  is  really  sorry  for  the  said  controversy  with  the 
said  Presl)ytery,  and  desires  admission  here,  his  church 
sending  their  elder  for  this  end.  Judged. — That,  as  the 
action  of  that  Presbytery  in  Philadelphia  was  after  his 
regular  dismission,  and  therefore  irregular,  he  be  now  re- 
ceived, and  they  now  repone  him.  Resolved — to  cultivate 
friendship  with  other  Presbyteries  by  correspondence,  and 


ffl 


IN  NEW  ENGLa-ND. 


149 


SO  to  write  to  the  first  Presbytery  of  Londonderry,  N.  H  , 
and  tluit  the  Rev.  Mr.  Murray  be  our  delegate  to  meet  witli 
the  same  Presbytery  about  the  erection  of  a  Synod.  Meet- 
ing's to  be  held  third  Tuesdays  of  May  and  Septendjer. 

We  have  here  an  illustration  of  the  ductility  of  Presby- 
terianism,  almost  equal  to  ]irelatic  apostolical  succession 
itself,  and  which  during  the  lifetime  of  Mr.  Murray  mani- 
fested vitality.  Their  meetings,  according  to  adjournment, 
Avere  held  from  year  to  year  until  June  13,  1792,  and  tlieir 
records  manifest  at  least  an  average  amount  of  oflieinl 
faithfulness.  For  example:  On  May  19,  1772,  they  assigned 
trials  for  license  to  Mr.  Samuel  Wheeler,  a  graduate  of 
Cambridge,  whom  they  had  taken  under  their  care.  Thuy 
met  a  second  time  on  his  trials  on  September  7,  1772,  and 
again  on  October  6, 1772;  and  at  Georgetown  on  Novemhcr 
18,  1772,  they  met  a  third  time  pro  re  natn,  "examined 
him  in  the  usual  matters — and  as  to  his  piety." 

In  view  of  his  "small  opportunities  and  ver}'  scanty  pro- 
gress, they  are  only  constrained  by  the  urgent  necessity 
of  the  churches  to  think  of  licensing  him  at  this  meeting." 

Surely  this  is  a  hard  account  of  a  graduate  of  Harvard 
College,  but  perhaps  "  his  small  opportunities  "  may  refer 
to  a  neglected  religious  education,  as  well  as  to  his  literary 
disadvantages.  He  subscribed  the  formula,  and  M'as 
licensed  November  19,  1772.  "The  charge,  with  many 
particular  cautions,  was  given  by  the  moderator.  He  was 
appointed  to  Topsham  for  three  or  four  Sabbaths,  and 
then  to  study  in  private  till  next  meeting."  From  year 
to  year,  as  seen  by  the  records,  they  conducted  their  judi- 
cial business  "decently  and  in  order."  At  Topsham,  ()cto- 
hcr,  1773,  tlie  Rev.  Nathaniel  Ewer  and  his  church  of  New 
Market,  N.  H.,  recjuested  admission.  To  prevent  difficulty, 
"  the  moderator  was  ordered  to  go  to  New  Market — state 
tlie  order  of  this  Presbytery,  and  see  if  they  are  willing  in 
all  things  to  conform."  "The  same  to  l>e  done  at  JJos- 
eawen,  whence  a  similar  ap])lication  is  made."  "Ministers 
to  perform  pastoral  visitation  this  fall."  Ordered — tliat 
"  tile  brute  beasts  killed  by  the  children  of  one  church 
member,  belonging  to  another  cliurcli  member,  be  paid  for 
by  the  parents."     Tins  was  cMiuitable. 

After  due  examination,  as  ordered,  the  Rev.  Nathaniel 
Ewer  and  his  New  Market  congregation  were,  on  May  31, 


w 


I' 


liifl 


11^ 


]  mw 


M4II 


mi 


1  ;•  6 


150 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


1774,  received,  while,  for  varied  irregularities,  Wliecler 
was  at  the  same  meeting  suspended. 

As  Presbytery  al)hors  isolation  where  "there  is  one 
faith,"  so  they  at  Pownalhoro,  on  August  16,  1774,  '"Jie- 
snlced  that  they  stood  ready  to  join  with  other  Prcsbytca-ies 
in  New  England  upon  Christian  terms,  and  that  on  tliis 
Kuhjcct  they  send  a  commissioner  to  the  Presbytery  at 
.Sahnn,  for  which  purpose  the  Rev.  John  Murray  was  ap- 
l)ointed,  and  to  carry  witli  liim  a  copy  of  their  constitu- 
tion." Their  congregations  wore,  on  October  12,  1774, 
^v■len  they  met  in  Brunswick,  four,  beside  some  vacancies, 
of  which  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Joscjth  Prince,  John  Miller, 
John  Murray,  and  Nathaniel  Ewer  were  the  pastors. 

Tiieir  commissioner  reported  that  he  had  waited  on  tlie 
Presbytery  at  Salem,  Mass.,  but  various  animosities  still 
prevailing  among  the  ministers  that  way,  render  the  synod- 
ical  union  purposed  a  very  distant  object."  The  Presby- 
tery, considering  that  tiiey  had  done  what  they  could  in 
the  matter,  resolved  to  proceed  no  farther  in  the  matter  at 
present. 

We  thus  find  the  Rev.  ^Nlr.  Murray  at  tlie  age  of  thirty- 
two  the  clerk  of  a  Presbytery  of  which  he  could  say, 
quorum  magna  pars  fui — "of  which  I  have  been  a  great 
part,"  and  we  must  leave  him  for  a  season,  and  chronolog- 
ically notice  some  of  the  matters  now  transpiring  else- 
where connected  with  our  subject. 

While  the  minutes  of  the  lioston  Presbytery  are  not  re- 
corded from  1755  till  1770,  still,  in  dilferent  ways,  from 
town  records  and  other  sources,  we  learn  in  i)art  the  pro- 
gress made  in  sustaining  and  ])ropagating  this  scri])tural 
church  order  in  their  bounds,  or  tlie  gospel  through  it. 

At  Pelham,  April  IGth,  1755,  on  the  roll  arc  the  names 
of  John  Moorehead,  David  McGregor,  Alex.  McDowell, 
Robert  Burns,  Jonathan  Parsons,  Solomon  Prentice,  and 
Alex.  Boyd,  and  we  find  their  records  resumed  thus: 

"A  true  and  correct  cojjy  of  the  minutes  of  the  reverend 
Presbytery,  now  called  the  Presbyterv  of  Boston,  consist- 
ing of  twelve  congregations,  whose  ministers  are  as  follows  :" 
John  Moorehead,  Boston  ;  David  McGregor,  London- 
derry;  Jonathan  Parsons,  Newl)uryi)ort ;  Daniel  Mitchell, 
Pembroke;  John  Houston,  I^edford ;  Moses  Baldwin, 
Kingston ;    Richard  Graham,   Pclhaui ;    Samuel    Perley, 


I  i 


n 


;JF' 


I  |i      r  I 

M 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


151 


Sea  Brook ;  Thomas  Pierce,  Scarboro,  Me. ;  John  Morri- 
son, Petersburgh ;  Simon  WiUiams,  Windham ;  John 
Strickland,  Oakham. 

Met  at  Boston  according  to  appointment  October  24th, 
1770,  when  it  Avas  unanimously  resolved  that  a  time  and 
place  be  appointed  for  an  actual  division.  Mr.  Gilmore 
had  fulfilled  his  ap])ointments  of  the  last  session,  and  was 
now  appointed  to  Voluntown  for  the  winter.  They  de- 
ferred presenting  a  call  from  Mcrrimac  to  JNIr.  Noble  until 
tht'V  receive  more  light  res])ecting  a  greater  unanimity. 

Mr.  John  J^liot  oflbnxl  himself  as  a  probationer,  pre- 
sented testimonials  very  satisfactory,  together  with  a  nar- 
rative of  the  work  of  God  on  his  soul,  of  which  the  Pres- 
bytery unanimously  approve,  and  he  was  received. 

Finding  peace  increasing  in  their  bounds,  and  their 
members  scattered  at  inconvenient  distances  from  Palmer, 
Mass.,  to  Scarboro,  in  Maine,  they  now  resolve  upon  pre- 
paring the  way  for  the  formation  of  a  Synod  with  Presb}'- 
teries  of  convenient  bounds  ;  at  their  meeting  in  London- 
(krry,  May  29th,  1771,  owing  to  the  absence  of  Moorchead 
and  Parsons,  the  project  of  forming  a  Synod  was  further 
delayed.     Infer  alia. 

Received  the  complaint  of  David  Steele  and  Wm.  McNee 
against  the  Rev.  John  Morrison,  of  Peterboro,  and  ap- 
])ointcd  a  committee  of  five  ministers,  with  their  elders, 
to  meet  there  and  finally  determine  the  afl"air  now 
l)cnding. 

At  Seabrook,  N.  H.,  August  20th,  1771,  their  meeting 
was  opened  with  a  sermon  by  the  Rev.  D.  MoCiregur  from 
Joel  ii.  17.  This  subject  might  have  been  suggested  by 
the  attitude  of  Moorchead  and  Parsons  towards  each 
other.  They  had  ''  fallen  out  b}'  the  way,''  and  whether  age 
was  or  was  not  maturing  for  each  of  them  '*  a  crown  of 
righteousness,"'  in  them  "the  wrath  of  man  was  not  work- 
ing the  righteousness  of  God." 

^^'hile  Moorehcad's  reasons  for  absence  were  sustained, 
Parsons,  when  asked  his  reasons  for  non-attendance  for 
some  time  ])ast,  stated  that  ''a  jiersonal  dilference  between 
thorn  so  controlled  his  feelings,  that  he  could  not  in  con- 
science sit  in  court  with  INbmroluvid  until  it  be  settled." 
By  his  statements  to  members  of  l^resbytery,  it  was  found 
tliat  the  conscience  of  Moorchead  operated  iu  the  same 


I  m 


152 


HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


n 


:i 


^i    H  I 


way  toward  Parsons ;  and  Moorchead  was  enjoined  to  lay 
his  grievances  in  a  legal  way  before  tlie  Presbytery  at  its 
next  meeting.  The  dividing  of  the  Presbytery  was  po?;t- 
poned  ;  the  moderation  of  a  call  to  Blandford  was  granted ; 
Nottingham  was  received  under  Presbytery ;  ]\Ir.  Morrison 
was  restored  to  full  standing,  and  to  the  exercise  of  his 
ministry  in  Peterboro,  N.  11.  And  in  view  of  this,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  McGregor  was  appointed  "to  write  to  the  con- 
gregation a  letter  suitable  to  their  circumstances,  recom- 
mending to  them  a  punctual  attendance  on  the  stated  ad- 
ministration in  their  own  parish.  At  Newburyport,  May 
13th,  1772,  six  ministers  present  and  live  absent.  As  Mr. 
John  Morrison  had  left  Peterboro,  a  citation  was  sent  to 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Sproat,  of  Philadelphia,  to  present  to  him, 
and  an  account  of  his  late  conduct  was  to  be  forwarded  to 
the  same. 

The  Rev.  Messrs.  McGregor  and  Williams  were  ap- 
pointed a  committee  to  endeavor  to  effect  a  reconciliation 
between  Moorehead  and  Parsons  before  the  next  meeting. 
The  dividing  of  the  Presbytery  was  again  "  postponed  to 
the  next  session."  Mr.  Patrick  was  recommended  to  take 
the  call  presented  to  him  into  his  serious  consideration, 
and  the  Elders  of  Nottingham  were  to  be  installed  by  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Williams  before  next  meeting.  It  was  voted, 
That  the  Rev.  Mr.  Williams  engross  the  papers  belonging 
to  Presbytery  in  a  book;  that  Messrs.  McGregor,  Houston 
and  Williams  direct  the  missionary  labors  of  Mr.  Gilmore 
in  the  vacancies  under  Presbytery ;  and  that  a  letter  be 
written  to  the  society  of  Hampton  Falls,  respecting  their 
late  conduct  since  they  were  received  under  our  care. 

Mr.  Patrick  accepted  the  call  from  lilajulford,  and  his 
ordination  and  installation  were  a})pointed  to  take  place 
on  the  last  Thursday  of  June  next. 

"Voted,  that  the  Rev.  Messrs.  McLelland,  Jones,  Smith 
and  Thair  be  invited  to  take  part."  Londonderry,  May 
2Gth,  1773. 

"Resolved,  That  Mr.  Parsons'  excuse  be  suspended ;  that 
]Mr.  Moorehead  be  cited  once  more  to  appear  before  Pres- 
bytery to  give  an  account  of  liis  non-attendance,  to  apolo- 
gize for  his  absence  several  years  })ast,  '  and  to  (jxjjlain 
some  things  in  his  last  letter  wliich  in  our  opinion  need  a 
comment.' " 


II '  'l'- 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


153 


lat 

:'S- 

lo- 

iu 

II  a 


Definite  arranj»ements  were  now  to  be  made  l)y  ap- 
pointed parties  for  tlie  erection  of  the  proposed  Synod. 

Presbytery  now  si;inified,  very  properly,  "  its  disappro- 
bation of  the  expediency  of  an  adjourned  nieetin";  of  an 
equal  number  of  Prcs1)yterian  and  ('(Miurruationalist  min- 
isters in  order  to  settle  the  afi'airs  ot"  Oakham,  and  con- 
sider the  Rev.  Mr.  Strickland  and  the  Presbyterians  there 
inadvertent  in  coming  into  such  an  expedient.  Presby- 
t'  ry  now  appointed  to  sit  on  tlie  last  ^^'ednesday  of  May 
next  (1774),  at  llev.  Mr.  Baldwin's:"  now,  without  statins; 
when  or  how  Mr.  Baldwin  was  removed  from  Palmer  to 
Kingston,  called  '"Mr.  Baldwin's"  on  their  minutes. 

Londonderry,  July  2d,  1773,  Presbytery  met  according 
to  adjournment.  A  connnittee  reported  that  they  had  or- 
dained Mr.  George  Gilmore,  who  had  landed  in  Philadel- 
phia September  Dth,  1769,  and  installed  the  Rev.  Alexan- 
der McLean  at  Bristol,  Maine,  on  May  2Gth,  according  to 
appointment.  Mr.  Gilmore  was  instructed  to  consult 
Messrs.  McGregor,  Houston  and  Williams,  respecting  his 
preaching  in  the  vacancies  in  their  parts.  The  Rev.  Alex- 
ander McLean  was  received  on  testimonials  from  the  Pres- 
bytery of  New  Brunswick. 

We  have  seen  the  Rev.  John  Moorehead  suspended  by 
the  Londonderry  Presbytery,  and  nt)w  he  lias  fallen  under 
the  disjdeasure  of  the  one  which  he  was,  more  largely  than 
any  other  person,  the  agent  in  erecting.  The  opposite 
positions  toward  Murray  which  they  took,  was  the  par- 
ticular "root  of  bitterness  "  which  had  sprung  up  between 
them.  Parsons  sustained  him  and  Moorehead  oppos(.'d 
him.  They  were  "  men  of  like  passions  with  others,"  and 
they  had  parted  sorrowfully.  Moorehead  for  years  suffered 
under  "a  cru(^l  disease,"  which  might  have  somewhat 
alt'eeted  his  e(iuanimity  and  patience,  and  which  at  last 
brought  him  suddenly  to  the  grave.  '"On  the  Lord's  day 
he  preached  twice,  seemingly  in  better  health  than  he  had 
been  for  a  long  time  before.  But  his  disease  returned  that 
day  and  continued  till  his  death,  on  Thursday,  December 
2(i;  1773."'^ 


*0f  liim  a  v«rv  favoiubk'  iiolico  is  given  in  the  MaxsuchuatUs  Uazellc, 
DiHTinbcr  9lli,  lt78. 

"Ill  tliiity-nini'  years  (1730-17r)9)  yiv.  ^Mooreiu-ad  baplized  091  per- 
.>-ons»,  and  in  forty-tlivce  years  married  447  cuiiplert.  lie  ceased  to  bap- 
tize (as  sliown  by  his  record)  four  years  before  his  dealli,  yet  continued 
to  marry  until  August,  1773." 


)   : 


H 


•  "i 


1  r ; 


M 

•     ■ 

1 

j 

I  • 

II 


154 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


But  to  return  to  tlie  Boston  Presbytery.  We  find  thnt, 
.•ilthoup;h  Conj:]^rep;;itionalism  was  now  145  years  old,  it  did 
not  bind  the  churches  on  the  spot  of  its  birth  in  Salem  in 
harmony.  It  was  not  "sufliciently  divine"  to  do  this. 
Hence,  at  a  meeting  at  Kingston,  N.  H.,  on  May  2Gth, 
1774,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Nathaniel  Whittaker  and  his  congrega- 
tion, of  Salem,  Mass.,  were  admitted. 

Rev.  John  Morrison  was  ai^ain  cited  to  appear  for  trial. 
Not  only  did  tiie  Presbytery  take  heed  to  the;  wrong-doing 
of  pastors,  such  as  Morrison,  but  also  to  the  membersiiip 
of  the  church,  for  Thomas  Quintin,  James  Kelly  and  their 
wives,  under  discipline,  were  at  this  time  acquitted  of 
charges  antinuptial  and  re-udmitted  to  church  j)rivileges. 

Then  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Nathaniel  Merrill  and  Aaron 
Hutchison  appeared,  gave  good  satisfaction  respecting  their 
standing,  and  stated  their  motives  for  embracing  the  dis- 
cipline of  the  Presbyterian  church.  In  view  of  which  they 
were  received  into  full  fellowship,  and  a  committee  were 
appointed  to  sit  in  the  congregation  of  Boscawen,  N.  H., 
to  consult  matters  there  between  the  Rev.  Mr.  Merrill  and 
that  society,  and  to  inquire  into  the  propriety  of  receiving 
it  under  watch  and  care.  A  sin)ilar  committee  were  ap- 
pointed to  visit  Blandford,  and  finally  determine  matters 
respecting  the  Rev.  Mr.  Patrick  and  that  society. 

Changes  are  usually,  or  at  least  oftentimes,  rung  upon 
all  departments  of  the  Christian  church  each  half  century, 
and  so  it  was  here.  Up  till  this  i)eriod.  May  2r)th,  1774, 
those  who  were  trained  up  Presbyterians  had,  in  worship, 
used  the  l:)Ook  of  Psalms,  while  those  who  were  novices  in 
Presbyterianism,  or  viewed  it  as  a  good  ex^pedient,  or 
adopted  it  as  the  path  to  thrift,  brought  with  them  what 
they  previously  used  in  praise  as  Congregationalists,  pro- 
bably in  most  cases  "  the  Bay  State  version "  of  Elliot, 
Mather  and  Weld. 

The  fathers  had  passed  away,  and  now  a  new  generation 
were  acting  "who  knew  nut  Joseph."  The  loD  psalms, 
imitated  by  Dr.  Watts,  liad  been  offered  in  the  Boston 
market  since  1741.  Thirty-three  years  of  warfare  had  al- 
most silenced  "the  Bay  State  version,"  and  now  the  Rev. 
Moses  Baldwin  has  for  the  imitations  "  a  felt  want,"  and 
the  Presbytery  "  having  discoursed  upon  the  atiair,"  give 
him  liberty  to  use  them  at  "discretion." 


IN    NEW    ENGLAND. 


155 


up, 

or 
,-hat 
])ro- 
liot, 


give 


Rottenness  now  ontcrod  into  the  bones  of  their  Prcsby- 
terianisni,  and  altlioujj;h  their  con,ti:re^ation.s  were  exten- 
sively increased  in  numbers,  and  expanded  into  a  Synod, 
yet  it  only  lasted  for  a  few  years,  and  collapsed  like  a  bal- 
loon in  mid-heavens  when  the  valve  became  defective. 
The  division  of  Presbytery  was  farther  postponed.  Hutchi- 
son and  Gilmore  were  appointed  to  sujiply  the  vacancies, 
Pelhani,  Dunbarton,  Francestown  and  Weirtown,  New 
Erection. 

Salem,  Mass.,  September  13th,  1774,  Presbytery  met. 
Morrison  was  af^ain  cited.  It  was  found  that  a  committee 
hud  been,  since  Mr.  !Moorehead's  death,  sent  to  Boston. 
They  reported,  their  minutes  were  read  and  approved  by 
Presbytery. 

"Voted  unaninioii-lv,  That,  in  consequence  of  his  peni- 
tential confession,  thi-  Rev.  Mr.  Patrick  l)e  restored  to  good 
standinjr,  and  while  he  is  jicrmittcd  to  exercise  his  minis- 
terial function,  his  dismission  from  his  congregation  is 
continued  till  next  meeting.  The  appeal  from  Blandford 
was  sustained,  and  it  is  to  be  tried  at  next  meeting. 

"Ordered,  That  the  Rev.  John  Houston  be  appointed  to 
table  complaints  against  the  Rev.  John  Morrison  at  next 
meeting,"  at  Salem,  September  loth,  1774. 

As  noticed,  the  Presbytery  at  the  Knsitrard  a))])ointed  at 
Pownalboro,  on  August  16th,  1774,  the  Rev.  John  Murray 
to  go  as  a  commissioner  to  the  Boston  Prcsl^ytery  to  meet 
at  Salem  at  this  date,  and  that  he  rejjorted  that  "  variou.s 
animosities  still  jirevailed  between  the  ministers  that  way," 
but  he  did  not  state  that  he  was  the  cause,  or,  at  least,  the 
occasion  of  them.  He  had  previously  intimated  a  desire 
to  unite  with  the  Boston  Presbytery.  This  Mooreliead,  in 
view  of  his  case,  sternly  opposed,  while  Parsons,  admiring 
the  man,  and  having  less  veneration  for  strict  Presbyterian 
discipline,  advocated  it.  Hence,  during  the  last  years  of 
their  lives,  "  brotherly  love"  between  them  was  not  per- 
mitted to  "  continue." 

On  considering  at  this  meeting  th^  propriety  or  impro- 
priety of  "receiving  him  in  charity  as  a  Christian  brother, 
it  was  carried  in  the  negative,"  Parsons,  Houston,  Williams, 
Cross,  Smith  and  Crawford  dissenting.  These  were  for 
receiving  Mr.  Murray  and  probably  his  Presbytery.  Dur- 
ing the  past  nine  months,  aince  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 


^  i; 


;     f 


1141^ 


h 


156 


HISTORY   OF  PRESBYTKRIANISM 


:  V  I 


Moorchend,  tho  Long  Lane  con<];rop;ation  in  Bof^ton  had 
become  anxious  to  call  him  jis  their  jmstor,  and  this  could 
be  done  only  by  the  authority  of  the  Boston  Presbytery. 

In  order  to  present  to  him  their  call  and  install  him, 
that  court  must  first  receive  him,  or  reco<;ni7,e  the  lawful 
construction  of  his  Presbytery  which,  spider-like,  ho  had 
])roduccd  from  his  own  personal  treasures  of  Presbyterial 
power.     This  they  did  not  do. 

Hence,  not  only  the  "animosities,"  hut  also  the  fact, 
that  on  Septem])er  20th,  1774,  the  [.(Onfi;  Lane  conprefjatioii 
enttn'ed  their  "  declinature  "  of  the  authority  of  the  Boston 
Presbytery,  while  a  minority  of  thirty  adhered  to  it. 
Hence,  the  succeedintr  fact,  that  at  Brunswick,  on  Octoher 
r2th,  1774,  Mr.  John  McLean  presented  a  call  from  the 
conjiregation  in  Boston  to  have  the  Rev.  John  Murray  re- 
moved there.  This  call  was  by  "the  Prcsl)yt(M-y  at  the 
Eastward"  considered  regular,  as  the  congregaiion  had 
declined  the  authority  of  the  Boston  Presbytery,  and  it 
was  (as  such)  sustained. 

Now  "  Greek  met  Greek,"  and  "  then  came  the  tug  of 
war."  His  host  of  friends  in  Boothbay  became  arouseil. 
When  the  call  was  presented  to  him,  he  ])romised,  that  if 
his  "  people  first  had  a  hearing  by  their  commissioners, 
tiiat  he  would  then  submit  tlie  matter  entirely  to  tiie 
Presbytery,  and  endeavor  to  be  obedient  to  their  decision."' 

On  the  next  day  Mr.  John  Beath  (formerly  from  Long 
Lane  congregation,  but  now),  the  Elder  from  Boothhay, 
presented  a  remonstrance  on  behalf  of  said  church  and 
town,  against  any  m(!asure  being  taken  for  Mr.  Murray's 
removal  to  Boston,  which  was  read  and  ordered  to  be  kept 
in  rcienth  and  copies  given  to  both  parties. 

At  an  adjourned  meeting  at  Jirunswiek,  on  Novcnd)er 
23d,  1774,  Mr.  John  McLean,  as  commissioner,  was  con- 
fronted by  Messrs.  John  Beath  and  Paul  Reed  as  connnis- 
sioners  from  Boothbay,  and  by  commissioners  presenting 
a  remonstrance  from  the  church  in  Bristol. 

The  argumentation  was  earnest  and  long  on  both  sides, 
and  McLean,  resorting  to  delay,  adduced  various  reasons 
why  his  request  should  be  granted,  which,  owing  to  tlie 
thinness  of  the  meeting,  occasioned  by  the  severity  of  the 
weather  and  the  desire  of  having  the  judgment  of  the  full 
Presbytery,  was  agreed  to,  and  the  matter  was  deferred. 


II 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


1  *''■ 
1>( 


At  Bmnswiok,  May  8th,  1775.  Wliilo  Mr.  McLean  (Yu] 
not  ai>i)i'iir,  still  tlu.'  niinuti'S  and  his  piipiTs  were  ht'lori^ 
the  court,  to|j;t'thcr  with  a  h'tter  from  the  session  of  th<^ 
Lout,'  Lane  cliurch.  These  were  read,  and  the  I'reshytery, 
alter  "mature  cor.sich'ratioii  of  the  case,  owin^  to  tho 
jtaucity  of  memhers  pHv-^ent,  resolved  to  adjourn  the  deci- 
sion of  that  att'air  till  next  me(!tin;ij,  and  the  clerk  was  or- 
dered to  enclose  in  his  answer  to  said  letter  a  copy  of  the 
minute  (]nutn  jn'tnium.''^ 

Measures  were  now  taken  for  some  relief  for  Topsham 
eon^rreuration,  which  was  then  vacant,  while  Sanuiel 
^\'lleei('r  continued  to  roam  ahout  and  preach  there,  hav- 
inir  thrown  off  all  restraint,  and  vexed  the  people  so,  that 
they  refused  almost  universally  to  hear  him.  Any  minis- 
ter of  the  hody,  when  recjuested  hy  their  session,  was  nu- 
ll lorized  to  haptize  the  children  of  parents  recommended 
])y  the  session. 

An  application  from  the  Prcshyterian  church  in  New- 
huryport,  praying  that  said  church  and  the  Rev.  Jonathan 
I'arsons,  their  j)ast(jr,  he  receiv(>d  under  the  watch  and 
care  of  this  Prcshytery,  was  now  made.  Tiiey  were  re- 
ceived accordint^ly.  Mr.  Parsons  was  installed  there  on 
!March  19th,  1746,  by  ii  mutual  compact  between  himself, 
and  the  clerk  replynifi  for  tho  rest.  His  constitution  was 
delieat*'  since  1754,  and  in  1772  his  public  labors  were  sus- 
] tended  by  sickness.  He  had  years  previously  asked  for  a 
eelleairue,  and  as  he  had  entertained  friendshij)  for  Mr. 
Murray,  so  his  cono;refi;ation  now  extended  to  him  a  call, 
and  "  Mr.  Moses  Little,  their  commissioner,  was  heard  on 
his  reasons  therefore."  The  translation  was  vigorously 
opposed  by  the  congregation  of  lioothbay,  who  had  now 
for  years  actively  endeavored  to  maintain  their  rights 
against  those  who,  as  well  as  themselves,  "  coveted  ear- 
nestly the  best  gifts."  Hence  the  prosecution  of  the  case 
was  deferred. 

On  "  Thursday,  May  9th,  1776,  upon  reading  the  min- 
utes, as  to  the  lioston  call,  it  was  moved  and  seconded, 
that  as  there  was  now  a  full  meeting  of  members,  and  that 
the  interest  of  that  valuable  congregation,  of  which  the 
utmost  tenderness  is  an  especial  duty  in  its  j>resent  dis- 
tress, might  greatly  suffer  by  our  deferring  judgment  any 
longer."    The  call  and  relative  papers,  the  i)rotest  and  re- 


,  I 


1 1 


158 


HISTORY   OF   PUESBYTERIANISM 


'f.  Si 


monRtranco,  and  tlie  al)stract.s  of  tho  reasons  of  })oth  par- 
tics  were  read.  The  I'r(.'sl)ytery  tlion  considered  tluir 
junvers  in  rei^ard  to  the  removal  of  any  ])ast()r  within  their 
l)ounds,  and  that  they  had  now  ajn|)hi  li^ht  in  the  matli  r 
of  th(!  IJoston  call,  rc.solced  as  folh)Ws,  ( /.  r.) :  "It  is  the  jud;^- 
nu'iit  of  this  Presbytery,  after  a  serious  consideration  of 
the  matter,  resjjectin^  th«!  removal  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Muri'ay 
from  his  pastoral  relation  to  the  chureii  in  Hoothhay  to 
the  ehur(;h  in  Boston,  that  it  is  hy  no  means  exi)e(lient  in 
th(.'  |)r(.'sent  state  and  circumstances  of  that  town  and 
jx'ople." 

Thus,  iifter  nineteen  months  of  exertion,  tho  ])cople  in 
JjOiif/  Lane  were  disappointed.  It  is  true  the  ])eople  at 
Boothhay  had  a  lawful  claim  of  ten  years'  ownership,  and 
were  the  man's  own  ecclesiastical  oflsprin;.',  hut  they  were 
now  estahlished  in  the  faith,  and  miuht  liave  found 
another  pastor,  although  not  of  o(iual  i)ower  and  attract- 
iveness. Not  only  so,  as  Presbyterians  had  then  and  havo 
now  no  abiding  hold  of  their  church  estate,  so  that  they 
can  under  civil  law  enjoy  the  use  of  it;  and  the  ])eople  in 
Lonj;  Lane  held  theirs,  amountiufj:  then  to  al)out  one 
twenty-four  hundreth  j)art  t)f  the  town  of  Boston,  by  a  trust 
deed  of  a  charital)le  use  and  nature,  Mr.  Murray,  with  his 
])owers  and  piety,  miiiht  have  instrumentally  retained  the 
foothold  which  I'resbyterianisni  then  had,  (ixtended  widely 
"  the  doctrine  of  (iod  our  Saviour,"  and  curtaihul  exten- 
sively that  volume  of  error,  which  eventually  culminated 
in  the  moonlight  of  Christianity,  Unitarian  Congregation- 
alism. 

lie  had,  however,  other  missions  to  fulfil ;  after  taking 
the  steps  which  we  have  noticed,  the  Pri'sbytery  the  sanii,' 
day  heard  the  commissioner  from  Newburyport  in  sup- 
port of  the  call  from  that  church  to  Mr.  Murray. 

On  July  8d,  1770,  the  Presbytery  met  at  New  Market, 
when  the  clerk  reported  that  in  obedience  to  the  order  of 
our  last,  he  has  transmitted  the  minutes  rcsjiecting  tho 
Boston  call  to  the  session  of  the  Presbyterian  chuicli 
there.  After  reading  the  remonstran(!e  from  Hoothbay, 
the  petition  from  Newburyport  was  heard,  and  on  Thurs- 
day, July  4th,  1770,  Presbytery  met  according  to  adjourn- 
ment, when  the  respective  reasons  for  and  against  the 
Newburyi)ort  cull  were  heard  in  detail.    After  long  de- 


IN   NEW  ENGLAND. 


159 


bate,  the  commissioner  from  Boothbiiy  movo(^,  nnd  tlio 
otlitTs  concurred  to  detV-r  it. 

On  that  eventful  day  l*resi)ytory  also  ^nuitcd  vacant 
churi'iujs  the  lil)irty  to  send  each  two  ruliu;^  elders  to  each 
lucetiii^i  of  Preshytery.  ''  Eventful  "  heeausc  that  while  tiio 
declaration  of  indc-'pendence  was  not  sijxued  until  tho 
peeoiid  day  of  Auyust  loUowing,  it  was  adopted  on  July 
4tli.  ITTC. 

At  the  next  mcetinjj:,  on  Octoher  Dth,  at  Fahuouth,  it 
was  reported  ♦hat  tho  Kev.  Jonathan  I'arsons  had  dit'd 
July  I'Jth,  1770,  at  the  a<^e  of  seventy-one— some  two 
years,  seven  nionthii  and  seventeen  days  after  his  former 
co-presbyter,  Moorchead.  It  is  matter  of  sorrow  that  they 
Were  alienated  from  each  other  at  death. 

As  Parsons  and  his  conj^rej^ation  (at  his  demise)  were 
under  "the  I'reshytery  at  the  Eastward,"  Newburyport, 
now,  that  Boston  was  out  of  the  way,  desired  tlu'  ser- 
vices of  this  pre-eminent  man.  For  him  they  persistently 
ap|)lied,  and  for  years  Boothhay  as  vigorously  protested, 
licuce  we  find  that  at  "  ('ai)e  Eli/aheth,  on  June  14th,  17>S0, 
after  a  sermon  by  Prince  on  the  doctrine  of  original  sin.'' 
as  exj)ressed  in  the  sixth  chai)ter  of  the  Confession  of  Faith, 
a;,'reeal)le  to  the  order  of  our  last,  Mr.  Murray's  removal 
from  Bo(jth))ay  w'as  oi)})Osed,  and  answered  hy  a  series  of 
reasons.  Of  these,  number  live  was  "for  preachinjf  to  and 
kee|)inj<  from  desolation  the  larg(,'st  conf2;regation  in  New 
England,  where  there  are  not  less  than  ten  times  the  nnm- 
l>er  of  hearers  he  can  preach  to  at  Hoothbay."  ''Eighth, 
for  saving  that  numerous  society  from  being  overrun  with 
errors,  its  government  overcome,  and  itself  split  untl 
ruin(>d." 

"For  these  reasons  the  Presbytery  rcijuired  and  en- 
joined said  congregation  at  Newburyport  to  receive  and 
acknowledge  )iim,  the  said  Rev.  Jolm  Murray,  as  their 
st.ited  pastor  in  the  Lord,  by  virtue  of  their  call,  his  ac- 
ceptance, and  the  soleum  a(!t  of  transp(^rtation  as  fully  to 
all  intents  and  purposes  whatever,  as  by  any  other  sort  of 
installation  or  induction  thereunto,  and  to  yield  to  all 
liis  legal  and  constitutional  acts  of  oflic(>,  all  faithful  sub- 
mission and  obedience  in  the  Lord.  And  at  all  times  to 
do  what  in  them  lies  to  strengthen  his  hands  and  en- 
courage his  heart  under  the  peculiar  difliculties  of  the  sit- 
uation in  which  he  is  hereby  placed." 


II 


160 


HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


This  waf5  a  day  of  desolation  for  the  conp:rcc:ation  at 
Bootli^av.  Thov  liad  for  nearlv  lourtceii  years  liiinjj 
^vitli  tli'V(»tii>n  on  liis  li]>s;  in  seasons  of  vast  and  imniincnt 
dandier  they  had  sli.ired  witli  him  perils  of  which  he  was 
extens''  'v  hoth  the  eaiise  and  tiie  occasion;  and  now 
they  )y  the  d(;inands  of  Divine  I'rovi(Knu,-(!  and  the 

authoiiiv  of  tlieir  own  Pr(>shytery  hereft  of  hini  for  wlioni 
for  some  six  years  they  had  witii  luroic  fortitude  con- 
tended against  judicious  and  ahie  connnissioners  from 
otlier  churches.  All  that  can  now  bo  oflicially  done  is  not 
neirlccted. 

For  them  Presbytery  express  and  record  their  pro- 
found "  sympathy."  They  were  then  "  sheep  having  no  " 
under  "shepherd  ;  "'and  wiiile  on  August  11th,  1781,  Pres- 
bytery "  received  a  letter  from  IJoothliay,  re(iuesting  a 
HUpply,"  tliey  do  not  ajtpearto  liave  received  any  of  a  per- 
manent character,  and  they  eventually  in  the  subsequent 
eight  years  in  common  witli  all  Presbvterianisni  in  Maine, 
fell  asleep  in  the  ol)livious  embrace  of  surrounding  and 
assimilating  Congregationaliam. 


i: 


TX   NEW    ENGLAND. 


lot 


CHAPTER  VT. 

1708-179.?— Difllciilties—Thoy  kept  watcli— '  Disamiexed  "—Routine 
(liitits — "  riiiiilisci'Miliiiir  " — Ft'iiiiih'  nii'inluM's  to  \)v  rt'ci-ived  it"  tlicy 
ri'tiini — L  11  iiiliait"-l>;i it'll — Mfriill's  (ii-.ini>>.i()ii — I'.ostoii  society  cittil 
— Noveinb(.T,  I77i — '•Cdii-itli-iiiif,'  liio  man" — A  plan  lur  a  Syiitttl 
ovortmvd — Salt'in  ("imrcii  luirnt — Aid — I)artniontii  Coilefri — Iliitiii- 
iii-oiis  |u'!iliun — HfconiiiK'niiatioM  (tf  a  plan  ot"  Synod — Tliri'f  I'rcs- 


livti'iit. 


-iM.rl 


n'arancc   a    duty  — I  astoral    visitatum    and    ratochisnig 


ni'oniiMi'ndi'd — Not  too  cl(wi'  to  tlirir  iioiis  in  llio  pnlpil — Kxp ositioi 
ncDinMii'ndfil — License — I'uMitalion  (if  Hanns  reconiim-nded  -Snp- 


lillcs- 


'vnod   tni'MK'd   Mav  31 ,  177')  -Mit  at 


;ua.  m. 


iinie 


Isl- 


Inpiliart  oni.iiiifd  at  St.  ( iror<,'i'"s  in  SipteinlKT — Mi'irill  at  IVlhaiu 


ni  Sfpti-ni 


l>.r— T 


(•'"art  asks  lor  lici-nst' 


II 


IS  (.xaniination 


I. 


urn.-e 


Third    (,'lnnrii,    Salfiu  — Witiidiawing   invuularly — TIk-    circiun- 
Ktanci's  of  tlio  times— Till'  siiii-ll  of  gun-powder —A  priori — A   pos- 
teriori— Adopted  the  ^Vestlllillster  ( 'oiifessioii  of  K.aitli  and  falle<i  the 
Synod  of  Ni'W  Miiiilaiid- -Some  divelopment  ami  some  decay — Appre- 
ciated— A    generation   goiu'  -t'omforts — An    era   of    prosperity    now 
openiiiii:  -Population  too  (K'lise — Ilmiu'ration — Truro,  Nova  Scotia — • 
Civil   and    reli>j;ious    lilieily   tiiere  —  ( 'lurry   Valley,   X.    V.,   dwelling 
safely — TroiiMe  came-  War     (  olonies  revolt— Ivcv.    !•'.  MaKemie — 
Meekleiibur;j;li  I'onvention — I>eclaralioii  of  Independence- -This  per- 
Mciition,  .says  Hancrofl — Hishops-Septemher   4tli,    177(>,   "are   any 
inimical?  can   have  no  seat    lu'ri-"' — .lohu   M(»rris((n    (U'posed  -  K»'V. 
.Iiilm  Houston  falters  and  promisis  t'ealty,  hut  does  not  s.itisfy  Synod 
or  I'.i'dford  ei'.her^ — dismissed — I'l'ril — I'rencii  war  in  1741  (>!(  -('a|)e 
i^iTiiiii — i)r.  Thornton — •  ,)Wii  Point — Three  Captains  from   Derry — 
Two  StarUs  and  Kouer.-— No  surplus  of  alli-etion  for  Hritain  after  the 
"Huston   Mas.-arre"  -John  Stark  in  his  Sawmill,  and  in  ten  mimitea 
left  tor  Cambrid>i;e — "  Disinssini,'  apprehension.s  " — Future  homes— 
Tile  loyalty  of  the  Scotch  Irish  dissipattd — Troops  in  IU)ston,  17t)S — 
Blood  Drawn — The  drama  opened — Tlu-  slalt-  of  society  domestically 
— Home   j)rothu;ts — Lartre    Spinning:    Wheel — Wives    and    mothers 
Worth  liavin<j — The  little  wheel — Flax — Linen — Inspectors  of  it  ap- 
poiiued  in  Derry  in  171S — I'orty  pounds  and  a  diamond  ring  premium 
for  linen  woven  for  Washington  aiitl  his  otlicers — Females  industriouH 
—  K.vti:ivaj;anci>— Spinning;   schools — Daughters   of    Liberty,    in    his 
house  in  one  day  they  spun  2C>-  skeins  and  gave  it  to  Mr.  Moorehoad 
— Times,  anthems  and  liberty  songs  in  the  evening,  animated  by  the 
"«{)iis  of  liberty" — 1(K)  spinners  in  Mr.  Moorehead's  society — Notices 
of  one  man — (ieorge   Keid — r.unktrllill — ^Ili;;  commission  January 
Ist^  177(5— Colonel  of  the  Ariuy  of  the  U.  S.  in  1783 — Served  during 

U 


I  I 


i    f! 


,    > 


162 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


W^ 


V 


the  entire  war — His  wife — Their  correspondence— The  means  of 
^'ract — Not  merely  a  nialti-r  of  intellect— Not  yet  modem  "f;iisli  " — 
"  Valley  Foij^e"  —  A  eoiuiiiiiaini — 'riiese  items  form  Imt  a  small  pari 
- — Not  only  ill  tlie  bounds  ol"  liie  Synod,  Imt  hy  Jolm  Miinay  and  I/h 
i'resliytery,  was  palriotisni  di>played — He  was  known  and  telt  in  I^oii- 
don,  and  i;'«00  sterling  were  ollered  for  his  person,  but  no  man  in 
Maine  would  laUe  the  money — His  Presbytery  release  him  from  I'ooll;- 
bay — Aids  ilie  comiuillee  of  safely  of  New  Hampshire  at  Kxeter — He 
Wandered  lor  aiioiil  two  years  stirring  nj)  Hie  jieople — A  comparative 
view  with  Samuel  Adams  and  Hancock — The  race  in  America — The 
Key  Note— Tile  Scotch  Version — Waxhaw — Captain  I).  McCleary  — 
The  iiullet — We  turn  to  ecclesiastical  matters— (,'areer  of  liev.  .1. 
Murray  —  His  power  as  a  prcacln'r — Filled  a  comiiany  in  two  hours, 
where  tiie  oHicers  had  labore<l  three  days  in  vain—"  Let  the  dinner 
go" — Succi'ssiul  in  the  ministry — Awakening  uiuler  it  -Plan  of  \  is 
Iting— His  meekness,  etc.,  etc. — Active  in  promoting  relii:ion--His 
daily  views — Died  March  13th,  ITUo — A  burse — His  widow  aske«l  the 
fund  which  he  had  given  lor  it. 

Pi:i{soNS  wcro  a|)j)()itito(l  by  tlie  Boston  Prcsliytory  to 
nuikc  ddiiiiti'  aiTim^^cinciits  for  tlic  I'oniiatioii  (d'a  Si/ii<><l. 

They  for  some  years  e.xpciieiieed  dijlieiilties  in  e.xet-uliiij; 
tlio  trust  V)y  the  death  ot"  Moorehead,  and  the  withdrawal 
of  Parsons,  to  say  nothinj^  ot"  several  nunor  untoward  nuit- 
ters.  Still  they  kept  watch  and  ;.M-ew.  At  a  three  days' 
UKHjtiiij^  (it  the  court  in  Salem  (Sep.  loth-loth i,  1774,  lie- 
side  till'  jittention  jjiven  to  Morrison's  etise,  Merrill's  tiiid 
Patrick's  "tillairs,"  the  minute  of  the  committee  sent  to 
Boston  was  read  and  ajiproved.  The  society  at  Canter- 
bury was  taken  under  their  care,  instructions  were  jriven  to 
supplies  of  vacancies,  the  .society  at  Hampton  Falls  wa.s 
"disannexed,"  the  Jif)peal  from  Blandford  was  sustained, 
and  to  he  tried  at  a  future  scs.sion,  supply  of  ])reachinj; 
and  the  moderation  of  a  call  were  f^ranted  at  Pelham.  Dr. 
Whittaker  and  the  ajr^rieved  memhers  of  liis  (church  are 
tendered  counsel ;  his  hearing  to  the  disturbers  of  his  peace 
wjis  considered  "condescending,"  and  the  turbulent  ones 
were  ordered  to  be  dismissed. 

'^Resolved,  That  as  there  are  a  number  of  female  mem- 
bers not  adverted  unto  in  the  fore^^oinj;  minut(\  who  have 
absented  themselves  from  this  (Salem  )  church,  that  if  they 
see  tit  to  return  any  time  before;  next  January  (1775;,  they 
be  received,  if  not,  be  dismis.sed  also." 

The  license  of  Mr.  John  Unjuhart,  from  the  Presbytery 
of  Allon,  Scotland,  appeared  Batisfactory,  and  on  it  he  was 
received  as  a  probationer. 


I*!' 


'    I 


IN  Nr.w  i::cf;LA.vD. 


163 


lili 


Tho  Rov.  Ronjamin  Balcli,  on  prcsontinf?  tostimonialH, 
prmiiisin;^  tliic  i^uWmission,  strict  adlicrnu'c  to  our  stand- 
ards, and  to  sul)scril)e  the  I'ornuila  when  reciuired,  was,  on 
rti|U('st,  n^oeivod  in^  a  nirniltcr. 

"  No  ohjiM'tions  a])))C'ariim  atrainst  tlu>  dismission  of  tlio 
Itt'V.  Mr.  Merrill,  the  conduct  ot"  tlu'  connnittcc  is  ajtprovcd/' 
The  Ilov,  Mr.  McCircior  was  now  apjxjintcd  to  write  a  let- 
ter to  the  Boston  society,  respeetinir  their  conduct  in  en- 
tering their  declinature,  ami  to  cite  them  to  appear  at  tln^ 
next  Session.  Halch  and  Urquhart  were  appointed  tt>  sup- 
ply vacancies. 

At  Xewl)uryport,  Xovend)er  Sth,  1774,  eij:ht  ministers 
and  seven  elders  were  pri'sent.  and  seven  ministers  were 
alist'ut ;  ot"  Mitchell,  an  ahsentet',  the  excuse  was  sustained, 
'■  considerinjj;  the  man."     Others  excused  and  some  not. 

A  lar^M'  amount  of  business  was  transacted,  and  they 
notice  that  they  ''are  ^lad  to  lind  so  larj^e  a  numher  of  the 
church  ;ind  eoiijzregation  of  Lonj^  Lane,  .some  thirty  per- 
sons still  adhering  to  this  Presbytery,  and  ji;ood  order,  in 
ojiposition  to  the  Decliners." 

A  plan  for  a  Synod  was  now  ordered  to  be  ''laid  befon; 
the  ehlerships  of  every  congreiiation  respectively  (or  sent 
down  in  overture),  in  order  to  prepare  matters,  to  adopt 
the  same  at  next  stated  sittinL^" 

On  behalf  of  the  church  of  Salem,  who  have  lost  their 
nieetinfi;-house  by  lire,  it  was  ordered  that  "their  case  bo 
recommended  to  the  charitable  contributions  of  each  con- 
ureiration  in  this  body." 

.As  th(>  founders  of  Dartmouth  Collefro  (the  fourth  in 
New  Enjiland,  founded  in  17()tM  were  extensively  Presby- 
terians, "the  \lvy.  Mr,  Hutchinson  now  petitioned  witli 
re^riu'd  to  forminir  a  Presbytery  at  Dartmouth.  Tt  was 
rt'c.)nnnended  to  him  to  use  tlu>  utmost  prudent  antl  edec- 
tu:d  means  to  carry  that  measure  into  execution,  and  to 
report  his  doings  theret)n  at  the  next  meeting  of  Pres- 
l.ytery." 

November  10th,  1774.  Opened  with  prayer.  "After 
snleuni  and  serious  consideration  of  the  plan  of  our  Synod, 
the  following  conclusion  "  was  reached,  viz. :    * 

"That  Messrs.  Parsons,  Whittaker,  Perley,  McTA\an  and 
IVarce,  with  their  congregations,  and  also  tlie  congregatii)U 
of  Boston,  now  under  their  care,  with  the  other  vacancies 


lillfi 


;  t 


N 


164 


IIISTOliY    or    I'RESIJVTKlilAMS.M 


in  their  bounds,  tojrctlior  witli  tho  Rov.  Mr.  Balch,  sliall 
(if  tho  plan  be  ail(»|)ti'(l  acconlinjj;  to  the  jjrccedin^'  niinnte) 
be  the  Ka.stern  Presbytery  and  be  called  the  Presbytery  of 
Ise\vburyi)(»rt. 

"  Mes^srs.  McGregor,  Mitchell,  Williams  and  Strickland, 
witii  their  conL'rcgations  and  the  vaciancics  within  their 
bounds  he  called  the  Presbytery  of  Londonderry,  or  Mid- 
dle one.  Messrs.  Houston  and  J>ald\vin,  with  their  con- 
gregations, together  with  the  congregations  of  lilandford, 
Pelham  and  ("oleraine,  also  ^lessrs.  Hutchinson,  Merrill, 
Gilmore  and  Patrick,  shall  be  the  Western  Presbytery  to 
be  called  the  Presbytery  of  Palmer. 

"Appointed  to  meet  in  Seal)rook,  N.  H.,  ^^ay  olst,  1775, 
then  the  Synod  lo  h(  actually  formed  and  receive  its  name." 
It  is  furtiicr  stated  that  "charital)le  mutual  forbearance 
in  lesser  things  appears  to  be  a  plain  duty."' 

"Yet,  as  uniformity,  so  far  as  it  can  be  obtained,  is 
V)eautiful  in  its  nature  and  salutary  in  its  conse(juences, 
it  is  reconnnendeil  to  every  minister  in  this  Preshyter\', 
that  he  perform  a  pastoral  visitation  and  catechising  of 
his  whole  flock  once  a  year,  or,  at  least,  once  in  two  years, 
or,  if  the  adults  will  not  at  lirst  suhmit  to  tlie  latter,  that 
lie  will  catechise  the  children  and  youth,  and  us(  his  best 
endeavors  gradually  to  introduce  it  among  the  adults.  It 
is  also  reconnnendeil  to  ministers,  and  ('specially  to  preach- 
ing probationers,  that  they  do  not  too  closely  conlhie  them- 
selves to  their  notes,  but  that  they  commit  tlieir  discourses 
to  memory,  at  least  in  part." 

"  It  is  recommended  to  all  preachers  that  they  make  tho 
exposition  of  the  Scriptures  an  ordinary  part  of  their  pul- 
pit work." 

"As  much  (lifTiculty  arises  from  marrying  with  license, 
and  though  it  seems  impossible,  under  our  present  circum- 
stances, to  ])revent  this  practice,  yet  we  prefer  the  publi- 
cation of  banns,  as  is  practised  l)y  the  Presbyterians  abroad, 
and  earnestly  reconnnend  to  our  several  congregations  to 
j)rocce(l  in  this  matter  accordingly." 

Dr.  Whittaker,  about  to  rebuild  his  church,  was  reconi- 
inended  to  the  liberality  of  the  public  when  lu;  scdicits  aid; 
and  Parsons  or  McGregor  is  to  preach  before  the  Synod, 
on  condition  they  agree. 

"Messrs.  Hutchiiison  and  Merrill  were  appointed  to 


iiiii      ii 


n-H 


IN    NEW    ENGLAND. 


1&5 


supply  at  ?>lan(lfor(l,  Pelham,  Coloraino,  Petersburgh  and 
Mitldii'town,  as  oct-a.-^iou  may  lUMiuirc." 

"Appointed  to  meet  in  Scabrook,  .'Hst  of  May,  1775." 

Soabrook,  X.  IL,  May  olst,  177'').  After  a  sermon  by 
tlio  Rev.  David  McGre^ror,  from  Matt,  xviii.  20,  which  was 
api)roved,  constituted  witii  prayer. 

.Sliiiisters  jiresent,  MeCirefj^or,  MitclicU,  Houston,  Ferlev, 
Htrickhmd,  MeliCan,  Merrill,  Patrick  and  Williams.  Ilul- 
int;  Elders,  James  Taij:<4art,  John  Moulton,  Es(i. ;  from 
Canterbury,  Henry  Hah3  and  pjzekiel  Morrell,  Clain  Ar- 
mour; from  Salem,  Miles  Ward.  Absent,  Parsons,  Bald- 
Avin,  Gilmore.  Hutchinson,  Whittaker  and  Balch. 

Kcv.  D.  McGretror  was  chosen  Moilerator. 

They  then  continued  for  two  days  to  act  as  a  Presby- 
tery, and  did  much  business,  incinirin^  into  reasons  for 
ai»sence,  post|i(tiiin<i^  the  declinature  from  Salem,  reponed 
Merrill  in  uond  standing,  as  no  accusi^rs  appeared  against; 
liiiu,  presenting  to  him  a  call  from  Pelham,  which  he  took 
into  consideration. 

Opening  at  7.80  .\.  m.  on  June  1st  with  ])rayer,  the  Clerk 
and  his  Elder  ol)tained  leave  of  absence,  and  Alexander 
McLean  was  chosen  Clerk,  pro  tem.  They  then  consid- 
ered the  state  of  ail'airs  between  .Mr.  Patrick  and  Bland- 
ford,  and  approved  of  the  conduct  of  the  tirst  committee 
"in  dissolving  the  pastoral  relation."  ''They  gave  no 
reoonnnendation  to  Mr.  Patrick,  i)ecanse  the  tirst  connnit- 
tee  are  all  absent,  and  tlie  last  out;  had  not  rej)orted." 

Mr.  Uriiuhart  accepted  the  call  at  St.  (Jeorgii's.  He  was 
ap|)()inte(l  to  serve  tlie  Edict.  It  was  ordered  that  he  be 
ordained  there  on  the  second  Wednesday  of  September, 
l)y  Rev.  Messrs.  Perley  and  McLean,  witli  the  assistance 
of  one  or  two  neighboring  ministers. 

Elders  were  apjtointed  to  be  ordained  at  I>l;indforil. 

At  8  F.  M.  opened  with  prayer.  Mr.  Merrill  to  be  in- 
stalled at  Pelham  on  the  second  Thursday  of  September, 
by  MctJregor  and  Baldwin,  with  some  assistance. 

"Mr.  Sanniel  Taggart  applying  for  license,  they  exam- 
ined hi.s  diplonia  from  Dartmouth,  satis(ie<l  themselves 
with  his  moral  character,  and  appointed  him  to  deliver 
an  exegesis  on  the  subject:  ati,  neccssr  fitcrit  ('firistnm.  pro 
)ii)l)i.s  sdtisfacere  Judiiia  Divinaf  and  a  po|)ular  sermon 
from  Matt.  xiii.  11,  both  of  which  were  aome  time  ago 
prescribed  to  him  by  the  Moderator," 


m 


166 


HISTORY  OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


III 


Iff' 


i.    ■ 


, 


ii 


"  Ho  havinjT  witlulriiwn,  his  disicourscs  were  approved. 
After  examining  him  on  personal  piety,  lie  ajijiroved  of 
the  doctrines  of  tin.'  ^\'estnlinster  Confession  of  Faitli. 
jiromised  subjection  in  the  Lord  to  the  I'rcshytery,  dc- 
<'lared  his  readiness  to  sul)scril)i'  the  f(jrmula,  and  they 
then  licensed  iiim  to  preach  the  <i;ospel." 

They  then  desij:;nate  the  parties  who  "are  entitled  to 
the  immunities  and  j)rivileji;es  of  the  third  church  in 
►Salem,  Dr.  \VJiittaker\s,  of  which  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Dudley, 
Leavit  and  John  Huntington  were  formerly  pastors." 

"  The  congregation  of  ►Seahrook  are  to  use  the  most 
elfeetual  means  to  settle  their  existing  dilliculties,  or,  the 
Presbytery  will  feel  solenmly  bound  at  next  meeting  to 
inquire  narrowly  into  them." 

June  2d,  1775,  opened  with  prayer.  "On  account  of 
their  withdrawing  irregularly  irom  this  I*res])ytery,  the 
Moderator,  with  tStriekland,  Williams  and  Mitchell,  was 
api)ointed  to  write  to  the  congregation  of  Xewbiu\v)iort." 

The  process  against  John  Morrison  was  forwarded  one 
stage. 

"  They  deferred  entering  ui)on  '  Boston  affairs  '  for  this 
time,  owing  to 'the  circumstances  of  the  times.'"  The 
smell  of  gun})Owder  wils  becoming  too  strong. 

After  "aimexing  Petcrboro  to  the  Middle  Presbytery, 
and  changing  the  name  of  the  Eastern  Presbytery  from 
Newburyport  to  that  of  Salem,  the  plan  of  the  Synod  was 
otherwise  amended  and  subscribed  by  the  members 
present." 

The  court  "  proceeded  a  priori,  to  shew  the  necessity  of 
governnient  in  the  state  and  in  the  church  ;  a.  posteriori,  to 
shew  that  there  is  in  fact  a  government  of  Divine  institu- 
tion in  the  New  Testament  church.  Nor  will  it  be  dilli- 
cult  for  the  judicious  and  unbiassed,  to  find  that  Pres])y- 
terian  church  government  has  upon  it  the  stamp  of  Divine 
authority,  that  the  churches  of  Jerusalem,  Antioch,  Cor- 
inth, Ephesus,  etc.,  etc.,  were  Presbyterian  churches." 
After  shewing  that  there  cannot  be  a  single  Congrega- 
tional organized  church,  without  a  pastor  ])r()]terly  author- 
ized "  with  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the  Presbytery  '' 
this  plan  states  the  powers,  the  mode  of  lawful  increase, 
where  the  necessity  exists,  and  the  lawfulness  of  local 
separation  into  co-ordinate  church  courts,  from  which,  by 


IN   NEW   ENGLAND. 


167 


rcftTcnco,  review,  or  a])pe:il,  matters  for  uniformity  in  doc- 
trine, <;overnnieut,  discijiline  and  worship  can  be  brou<,'lit 
for  tlie  purity,  jjeuce  and  growth  of  the  whole  ehureh,  as 
was  done  by  those  entrusted  witli  the  word  and  doetrino 
at  Antioeh  to  the  Syno<l  of  Kkh'rs  (for  Peter  and  John  de- 
eliire  tiieniselves  to  be  elders )  at  Jerusalem." 

After  stating  these  and  several  other  "  points  wiiieh  no 
Presbyterian  will  eontrovert/"  they  gratefully  aeknowlcdge 
thf  smiles  of  Divine  Providence  on  their  common  cause  in 
N\'W  J'highnul,  and  having  had  tlie  matter  under  con- 
sideration for  several  years,  they  now,  in  aggregate,  as  tho 
Presbytery  of  Boston,  subdivide  into  Presbyteries  as  before 
stated. 

Tiiey  then  ordered  a  meeting  of  each  of  the  three  Pres- 
byteries twice  a  year,  beside  what  may  be  required  pro 
re  nata.  Tlie  manner  in  which  their  records  were  to  bo 
authenticated,  business  brought  l)efore  the  courts,  the  de- 
portment with  wiiich  mend)ers  should  conduct  themselves 
when  oflieiating  judicially,  the  equal  standing  of  each 
Presbytery  without  prefc.'rcnce,  the  appt)intment  of  a  stated 
clerk  of  Synod,  his  duties,  the  preservation  of  the  records, 
and  other  matters  recpiired  for  i)ernianent  organization 
were  now  duly  arranged  and  ordered. 

The  Synod  now  adopted  the  Westminster  Confession  of 
Faith  and  (Jatechisuis,  and  then  the  standing  rules  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland,  as  collected  by  Stewart  of  Pardovan, 
"so  far  as  our  local  and  other  circumstances  will  allow." 
.  An  annual  meeting  of  Synoil,  its  duties  and  its  oflicers, 
was  now  provided  for.  Correspondence  with  the  Synods 
of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  by  a  committee,  who  are 
to  write  to  them,  was  now  proposed.  As  there  can  be  no 
a[)i)('al  from  the  Synod,  parties  not  satisfied  with  its  deci- 
sions, can  enter  their  protest  with  their  reasons  on  tho 
Synod's  books.  These,  their  then  present  "  regulations," 
may  be  altered  from  time  to  time,  as  God  may  give  them 
liu'Iit;  and  while  they  have  right  in  ecclesiastical  cases  to 
meet  as  courts,  in  the  name  of  Christ,  independent  of  the 
power  and  authority  of  civil  princes,  yet,  in  all  civil  mat- 
ters they  own  their  sul)jection  to  civil  authority. 

As  a  part  of  their  statute  law,  each  Presbytery  was  to 
keep  a  record  "  and  shall  enter  this  covenant  and  agree* 
nieut  in  tlie  beginning;  of  it" 


m 


1^ 


■ 

I 


n, 


« 


' 


168 


HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


They  then  "solemnly  covenanted  the  one  with  the 
other,  that,  by  the  helj)  of  Divine  LM-ace,  they  would  en- 
deavor to  promote  tlic  union,  peace  and  prf>.s}>erity  of  this 
court,  now  named 'The  Synod  of  New  En^ziand,' and  all 
its  Presbyteries  and  churciies,  lookini^  to  the  great  King 
and  Head  of  his  church,  for  his  presence  with,  and  bless- 
ing on,  all  its  departments,  that  they  he  guided  to  such 
measures  as  may  issue  in  the  rxaliation  of  Christ  to  his 
tiirone,  kingly  authority  and  rule  in  these  churches." 

''  In  testimony  of  tiiis  our  covenant,  consent  and  solemn 
engagement,  we  do,  in  tlie  I'car  of  (Jod.  hereunto  subscribe 
our  names,  tbis  2d  (Uiy  of  June,  177')."' 

Ministers  —  David  jMc(Jrcgor.  John  Houston,  Daniel 
Mitchell,  Sanjuel  Perley,  John  Strickland,  Natiianiel  Mer- 
rill, Alexander  McLean,  John  rr(|uhart.  Nathaniel  Whit- 
taker,  Benjamin  Jialch,  tSimon  Williams,  Moses  iialdwin, 
Sanuiel  Taggart. 

Ruling  Elders  —  James  Taggart,  Miles  Ward,  Henry 
Hale,  Ezekiel  Merrill,  John  Moulton.  Hubartous  Miittoon. 

The  moderators  of  the  respective  rresbyteries  were  now 
api)ointed,  and  the  Rev.  D.  McGregor  is,  as  Moderator,  to 
open  the  Synod  at  Londonderry  next  year  with  a  sermon. 
Closed  with  prayer. 

We  have,  since  the  opening  of  the  French  church  in 
Boston,  in  171G  (in  lifty-nine  yearsj,  some  development 
and  some  decay. 

The  means  of  grace  were  now.  in  their  varied  congrega- 
tions, not  only  enjoyed  but  extensively  a])j)reeiated.  One 
generation  of  ministers  and  j>eoplc  bad  |)a.ssed  away; 
homes  were  not  only  increased,  but  they  were  also  fur- 
nished more  extensively  with  the  comforts  of  lifi".  and 
their  churches  with  an  increasing  nundter  of  mendjcrs; 
whil<>,  having  church  courts,  sessions.  Presbyteries  and  a 
Synod,  an  era  of  j)rosperity  seemed  now  to  open  before 
them.  It  is  wise,  however,  to  "  ndx  trembling  with  nnrth "' 
in  view  of  earthly  mutations. 

For  them  the  pojjulation  became  too  dense,  while  the 
means  of  su))sistence  were  not  always  superabundant. 
Of  the  three  crying  sins  of  Suduni,  "  prich'.  fulness  of  bicad 
and  abundance  of  idleness,"  they  were  not  extensively 
guilty.  Hence,  to  better  their  condition,  they  not  only 
emigrated  to  new  portions  of  the  forest  in  New  England, 


Iff 


iii'.i 


IN    NEW  ENGLAND. 


169 


h\it  to  otlior  roloniop.  In  1700  :i  thrifty  company  from 
and  nciir  I  Jerry,  X.  II.,  rcinovcd  to  Truro,  in  Nova  Scotia, 
got  lip  Presbyterian  worship  there,  where,  not  bcinj?  under 
the  control  of  hiw,  enacted  by  Con,<!;re,i:;ationalists,  they 
could  hold  ;ind  (Mijoy.ns  l'r(>sbyterians,  tlieir  church  ))rop- 
erty.  In  tliat  c(jlony  they,  and  those  associiitin;,'  with 
;ind  succeodin}^  them,  have  wielded  an  important  inllu- 
cncc  in  establishin;jr,  maintaining^  and  jx'rpetiiatin;^  civil 
and  reliLMous  Hlx-rty.  Few  spots  on  earth,  if  any,  enjoy 
tiu'su  blessin;;s  more  extensively  tlian  docs  that  province. 

This  was  the  First  Presbyterian  church  or^^anized  in  tho 
Dominion  of  Canada.  It  has  had  but  three  pastors — tho 
Ilrv.  Daniel  Cock,  from  \"2  till  17'.>S,  the  Rev.  John 
Waddeli,  from  ITDS  till  IS.'JC,  and  tho  Kev.  William  Mc- 
Culloch,  D.  D.,  from  l-SotS  until  now. 

It  has  sent  out  live  or  six  liranches,  two  of  which  arc  in 
the  cit}'  propir.  The  orijiinal  church  is  relatively  stronii, 
for  the  Doctor  maintains  that  '"tiie  law  of  the  Lord  is  i)er- 
fcct,''  botli  for  doctrine  and  worship.  The  praises  of  (lod 
are  not  there  vitiated  by  machinery.  For,  while  he  fully 
believes  the  teachin;,'  of  his  illustrious  father,  the  late  Ilev. 
Tiiomas  McCulloch,  I).  I).,  S.  T.,  P.,  tiiat  "Calvinism  ia 
the  doctrine  of  the  Bible,"  he  can  also  say,  with  the  princt! 
of  Arminiaiis,  the  Ilev.  Adam  Clarke,  D.  D.,  the  Methodist 
Connncntator,  "  If  there  was  a  woe  to  them  who  invented 
instruments  of  music,  as  did  David,  under  the  law,  is 
tiicn;  no  woe,  no  curse  to  them  who  invent  them  and  in- 
troduce them  with  the  worship  of  God  in  the  Christian 
church?  1  am  an  old  man  and  an  old  minister,  and  I 
lure  declare  tliat  I  never  knew  them  productive  of  any 
•rood  in  the  worship  of  Cod,  and  have  reason  to  believe 
tlicy  were  productivi^  of  much  evil.  Music,  as  a  science, 
I  esteem  and  admire,  l»ut  instruments  of  music  in  the 
house  of  (lod  I  abominate  and  abhor." 

Durin;;  this(|Uartcr  of  a  (M'litury  another  colony  of  theso 
iMuplc  '^(■ttlcd  at  Cherry  \'alley,  I'nadilla  and  other  towns 
in  OtscLio  county.  New  York,  wluM-e  their  moral  worth 
aided  not  a  little  in  elevatinii  society.  Extensively  for<i;et- 
\\u<:  the  scalpiiiL'-knife  and  tomahawk  a  quiet  tide  of 
prosperity  seemed  to  l)e  now  carryinix  them  onward  in  the 
enjoyment  of  the  means  of  iiracc,  and,  in  common  with 
the  Congre^ationalists,  then  Trinitarians,  and  Calvinistic 


M  £^ 


4 


170 


HISTORY  OF   PRESBYTKRIANISM 


Baptists  Calniost  the  only  otlicr  rclij^ious  jKrsiiasions  tlicn 
ill  Nt'W  lMi;:liiii(l ),  tlic  rnshytcriiins  wvrv  extensively 
"dwelling.' Sillily,"  sitlinj^f  "under  their  vine  and  lij^-tree." 
*'  hut  Iruuhk'  eanie."  Of  our  "  lusts  eonie  wars  and  li;j,ht- 
in^,"  and  («od  now  arose  ''to  shake  terrihly  the  earth." 

The  nations  of  Continental  JMU'opewere  not  all  at  j»eaeo, 
nnd  (Jreat  iJritain  eonnneneed  a  series  of  operations  wliieli 
eventually  heeanie  so  o]»j»ressivo  as  to  cau.so  lier  thirtetu 
Anuriean  eolonies  to  revolt. 

The  atrocious  imprisonment  of  a  Preshyterian  minister, 
the  Rev.  Francis  McKemie.  hy  Lord  Cornhury,  in  New- 
York,  in  17<>7-S,  and  makiii;;'  him  pay  some  seventy 
))ounds  for  the  costs  of  his  jiroseeution,  though  deelareil 
not  ^'Uilty,  was  the  ''little  eloutl  not  hi^'^^er  than  a  man's 
liand,"'  which  eventually  assemhled  the  M»'cklenl)ur;:, 
Kortli  Carolina,  Convention,  in  May,  ITT^,  and  caused  the 
Declaration  of  indei)endence  in  1T7(),  with  all  their  untold 
results. 

►Secondary  and  suhordinate  matters,  of  course,  conspire  d 
to  the  jireat  issue,  hut  this  ])ersecution  occupied  the 
j)rimary  ])lace,  not  simply  claimiuf:  redress,  as  did  taxa- 
tion without  representation,  in  the  Stamp  Act  and  other 
oi)j)ressive  fornjs,  Init  cryinji  for  vengeance  to  the  .Judge 
of  the  opprt'ssed.  Hence,  says  the  eloepK.'nt  Bancroft,  a 
Conjzregationalist,  "The  first  voice  j)uhliely  raised  in 
America  to  dissolve  all  conn(iti<»n  with  (Jreat  Britain, 
came  not  from  the  Puritans  of  New  England,  or  the  Dutch 
of  New  York,  or  the  j)lanters  of  Virginia,  l)Ut  from  Scotch- 
Irish  Preshyterians.  The}'  hrought  to  America  no  suh- 
missive  love;  for  England,  and  their  exjierience  and  their 
religion  alike  hade  them  meet  oi»pression  with  prompt  re- 
sistance.''    (Illfit.  of  r.  S.,  vol.  T),  p.  77.) 

The  next  stop,  which  Pres)»yterians  foresaw,  would  he 
the  setting  up  of  a  hishop  in  each  colony.  The  arrange- 
ments for  this  were  alreadv  heing  made.  Hence,  when 
Synod  met  (agrecahly  to  its  adjournment )  at  Londonderry, 
N.  H.,  on  Septend)er  4th,  1770,  two  months  after  the  hirtli- 
day  e)f  the  nation,*  innnediately  after,  it  was  constituted 
in  the  usual  and  only  Preshyterian  Ibrm,  with  })rayer  hy 

*Tlie  Declaration  of  Independence  was  adopted  July  4th,  but  signed 
on  August  2d.  1776. 


IN    NEW  ENT.LAND. 


171 


the  Moderator,  in  the  mime  of  Christ.  We  liave  tiiis 
rrconi : 

'*  The  (luestiou  hcin;^  put  wlicther  any  susjxTted  to  l)e 
iniiiiical  t<»  the  lilnrtirs  of  the  indcpench'nt  States  ot* 
Aiiicricii,  which  they  art'  now  eoiiteiKhiii,'  tor,  ami  ntuscs 
tn  deehire  his  attachment  to  the  same,  should  have  a  seat 
ill  this  ju(hcaturc?     \'otcd,  they  shouhl  not." 

'riicii  it  was  asked  "if  they  a|>proved  of  the  Deehiration 
of  lii(h'i»cn(h'nci'  hitcly  pulihshed  l)y  the  American  col- 
onies as  the  cause  of  truth  and  justice,  and  thoujzht  it 
should  he  supportc(l  l»y  all  ranks  and  decrees  of  jursons 
in  these  colonics  ?  "  Tlie  consideration  of  this  (lucstion  ( as 
the  hour  of  adjournment  had  arrived)  was  "  suspcmlccr' 
till  the  morr(»w,  when  we  have  this:  "HV/f/w/.s  the  l»i'V. 
John  Morrison,  formerly  a  mcnihcr  of  this  hody,  has  heeii 
under  ecclesiastical  pi'oces-;,  ami  has  clojied  to  the  nunis- 
terial  armv,  and  shamefully  hehaved  himself,  tlicrelore  ho 
is  (lei)(>se(l  from  the  ministerial  ollice,  and  likewise  from 
the  privilege's  of  a  ))rivatc  Christian.*'  He  had  joined  the 
American  army  at  ('aml>ridue  in  ITTo,  hut  S(»ou  wi  nt  over 
to  the  British,  and  this  fact  now  uave  j)romptilude  and  ap- 
j)arent  severity  to  their  deliveranee.  Amonj;  Seotch-lrisli 
I'reshyteriansforsuch  conduct  there  could  he  no  foririvcness. 

Kut  this  was  not  all.  Whether  the  Kev.  John  Ijouston, 
of  IJedford,  was,  like  Judas,  the  last  to  say,  ''  Is  it  I  ?"  or 
not,  he  was  now  not  (piitc  in  sympathy  in  tiiis  matter  with 
the  Synod,  and  ohtaincd  the  honor  of  their  ollieial  atten- 
tion on  Septend)cr  -"ith,  177<>.  ]Ie  had  come  iVom  the 
church  and  college  at  Newark,  N.  J.,  in  17o4,  and  had  ap- 
jteared  for  ahovo  twenty  years  to  i)erform  his  relative  and 
oiliiial  duties  well,  hut  now  he  falters,  and  this  luinuto 
of  that  date  is  on  record: 

"As  tlie  Kev.  John  Houston  is  susi)cct(>d  as  inimical  to 
the  States  of  America,  and  lu;  hein;^  interrojxated  res))eetin;^ 
this  matter,  prondsed  that  lu^  would  satisfy  the  civil 
authority,  and  in  consetiuence  of  this,  he  would  satisfy  this 
Svnod ;  and  on  this  the  Svnod  reeonunended  to  him  to 
hrin^'  evidence  of  such  satisfaction  to  his  I'reshytery,  so  as 
throu^di  them  to  hring  the  same  to  the  Synod  at  its  next 
incetiuf^'." 

Failing  to  fulfd  his  promises  and  shew  his  fealty  to  the 
government,  he  was,  in  1778,  suspended  from  a  seat  in 


5^^' 


172 


HISTORY  OF  PnESnYTEUIANISM 


Synod,  and  having  l)rok('n  the  peace  of  his  eonfjrejjatiou 
until  his  uscrulncss  ainonj;  thcni  was  (h-stroycd,  the  Synod 
evrntually  dissolved  his  ])ast()ral  relation  to  the  con^^rega- 
tion  of  l>)(ltoi-d. 

The  Scoteh-Irish  iiad  previoiislv  heen  loval  to  the  Homo 

I  »  • 

Ciovenunent.  In  the  year  1714  hostilities  hetweijn  En;;- 
land  and  Franee  were  renewed.  This  hroiiglit  war  he- 
twe<'n  tile  Fri'iieh  and  the  Indians  on  the  one  side,  and  tli(> 
En;.ilish  eolonies  on  the  other,  wliieh  eontinned  witli  little 
ahatenient  tor  lifteen  years.  ( 1\)  I'ntil  Canada  was  eetled 
to  liritain  in  Fehruary,  ITO.^i,  the  fort  and  l)loekhouse  were 
necessary  in  New  En<xland. 

To  the  defene(f  of  these  eolonies,  in  eonnnon  with  others, 
many  I'reshyterian  volunteers  (hesidc  other  serviees) 
joine(l  the  noted  expedition  against  Cajx-  Ihvton.  "  iJr. 
Ahitthew  Thornton,  of  Londonderry,  subse(iuently  one  of 
the  signers  of  the  Dt'claration  of  Indi-pendenee,  served  ill 
this  ean)j»aign  as  surgeon." 

When  hostilities  were  renewed  in  IToO,  tlie  towns  settled 
l)y  I'reshyterians  were  not  behind  the  oihers.  As  they 
found  the  New  England  eolonies  in  imminent  danger,  so  a 
regiment  was  raised  in  New  Hampshire  to  assist  in  an  at- 
tempt to  destroy  Crown  Point,  and  it  heing  distinguished 
for  hardihood  an<l  adroitness  in  traversing  the  woods,  from 
it  three  companies  of  rangers  were  selected.  These  were 
})laeed  under  three  captains  iVom  Londonderry — John 
Stark,  William  Stark  and  Ilohert  Rogers.  Rogers  was 
Boon  promotetl  te)  l>e  a  UKijor,  and  John  Stark  afterwards 
became  celel>rated  as  a  warrior,  and  arose  to  \h:  a  brig- 
utlier-general  in  the  army  of  the  Revolution.  He  was 
with  iiord  Howe,  when  that  general  was  killed  in  storm- 
ing the  French  lines  at  'IMconderoga  in  IToS. 

While  faithful  to  Great  Britain  so  long  as  she  was  ecjui- 
table  to  iier  colonies,  yet  he  had  for  her  no  surplus  of  alKr- 
tion  after  the  lioston  massacre.  On  receiving  the  report  of 
the  battle  of  Lexington,  wdien  he  was  at  work  in  his 
saw-mill,  fired  with  indignation,  he  shouldered  his  musket, 
mounted  his  horse,  in  ten  minutes  left  and  hastened  to 
Cand)ridge.  He  was  at  the  battles  of  Bunker  Hill  and  of 
Trenton,  and  achieved  a  victory  at  Bennington. 

So  long  as  their  clergymen  considered  loyalty  to  Great 
Britain  a  duty,  so  long  the  Scotch- Irish  were  pacific ;  but 


llJ 


IN    NEW    KNOLAND. 


173 


after  what  we  have  sccti  in  the  Synod,  liclcl  on  Soptcnihi-r 
4Ui,  177<l.  ill  !(  lalioij  to  Mttirison  and  Houston,  and  even 
yt'ars  hj-forf  tin'  Dt'daration  ol"  Indcpcndi-nct'  wjis  made, 
every  idt  a  of  turthcr  h>yalty  to  the  House  ot"  Hanover  was 
(Hssipatcil.  W'c  now  take  a  few  notices  of  one  man,  il- 
histrative  ol'  the  eharaettr  and  prowess  of  many  others 
of  tin'  same  raee.   . 

At  thi'  time  of  the  hatth'  of  Kexinirton,  Cleorjje  I{ei<l  was 
in  eoinmaiid  of  a  company  of  minuie  men,  and  no  sooner 
(hd  the  inte|li<.M'nce  of  tiiat  event  reach  Derry,  than 
jeaviiiLt  lii-^  wife  and  ehil(h'en,  he  j)roeee(h'd  with  his  lom- 
jtany  to  Medford.  With  them  he  took  part  in  the  hiitll(? 
of  l)Unker  Hill,  and  Ids  lirsl  commission  under  the  C'tinti- 
ncntal  Congress  is  in  these  Words: 

"The  dele;^'atcs  of  the  united  colonies  of  New  Hanij)- 
sliire,  Massachuset^  Bay,  Rhode  Island,  Connectii-ul,  N»  sv 
York,  New  .lersey,  INiuisylvania,  the  comities  of  New- 
castle, Kent  and  Sussex,  on  the  J)elaware,  >hiryhuul,  Vir- 
^'inia  and  North  ('an»lina  to  (Jeorj^e  luid,  l']s(|. : 

"We,  reposinii  especial  trust  and  conlidcne(>  in  yt)ur 
])atriotism,  valor,  conduct  and  fnlelity,  do,  liy  thesii 
j)resents,  constitute  and  appoint  you  to  he  captain  of  a 
company  in  the  lifth  regiment  of  fo(»t,  commanded  liy 
Col.  .lohn  Stark.     JJy  order  of  the  Con<,'ress. 

"John  Hancock,  President. 
(Attest)     "  Chas.  Thompson,  Secretary,  Jan.  1st,  1770." 

In  1777  he  receivt'd  the  ai)pointmcnt  of  lieutenant-col- 
onel, and  in  1778  that  of  colonel  of  the  second  New  Hamp- 
shire rejiiment. 

In  178.'l  he  was  by  act  of  Congress  appointed  colonel  hy 
brevet  of  the  army  of  the  United  States.  Having  hcen  in 
connnand  of  New  Hampshire  forces  during  the  entire  war 
of  the  devolution,  he  was  in  the  battles  of  lUinkcr  Hill, 
Long  Island,  White  Plains,  Trenton,  Brandy  wine,  (ier- 
mantown,  Saratoga  and  Stillwater.  He  bore  his  share  in 
the  sufferings  of  Valley  Forge  in  the  winter  of  1777. 

For  aljove  seven  years,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  hiu'- 
ried  visits,  he  was  absent  from  his  fannly,  diwing  which 
time  his  wife,  beside  her  duties  to  their  children,  had  th(; 
entire  charge  of  his  farm  and  other  domestic   business. 


if. 


174 


IIISTOllY  OF   rRKSnYTlMlIANISM 


SoiiH!  (if  flu'ir  letters  ItrcMtlic  a  conslaiit   rrfrrmrc  in  tlie 
Almiiilitv.  :iii(l   the  <'uiili<liii^    trust    in   liiin,  in    regard   \o 


tlicir 


(lailv  rar<-s,  trials  and  aiiMiiic 


lifWii   l)V  each   (it 


tliciii,  Ion  I  IS  a  |il(asiii<j:  feat  tire  of  t  In  ir  inrn  s)»(iii(ltiic<' 


mill    Mt'dlord,  Ma\'  .>( 


/  /  ••,  Ik'  savs 


I    I 


lavr   imt 


time  111  yiv*'  yoii  an  accMHint.  of  <»iir  late  eima;^eineiit,  only 
tli.il  (iud  has  a|i|teared  lur  us  in  nmst  iniinineiit  daiiLicr." 

.\ii;j:nst  loth,  I77'>,  "  May  <  idd  j)r<>s|ier  and  |>ri»teel  iis. 
I  kiHiw  \vi'  have  your  prayers,  witli  many  oi'dnds  |ieo|ile. 
I  eoniiiiejid  voii  an<l  niy  dear  ehililien  to  the  Shepherd  oi' 
Israel." 

On  Sepleinher  iSth,  I77<>,  she  writes  to  him  at  'rieoi!- 
<|eroj^a  :  "I  received  your  letters  «»!'  July  tltli,  L'lst,  also 
Auirilst  Inth.and  to  the  I'linmr  of  those  tu(t  would  say 
that,  (iod  has  laid  yoii  nmler  the  ;^freale>t  oMi^ations. 
Mvery  nierey,  every  escape,  must  he  accounted  lor.  May 
we  he  prepared  lor  the  ;rreat  day  tW  account.'  Ai'trr 
Htatin^   many  matler.s   relat.iii'j;  to  the  rarm,  stock,  etc.,  she 

s    with    voiir   ;id\iee,    n(»l    otherwise, 


conelinles 


All    tl 


(CO- 


Mav  'Ihe  ;,'o(»d  will  of   him    who   dwelt    in   the   hush     rest 
aii*i  ahide  with  you."' 

It  i.s  of  till'  iiiiiiost  importance  to  know  whether  a  | 
j»le  in  the  lull  possession  ot"  the  means  o|"  t^race  are  jirolii- 
niL^  hy  them,  or,  whether  they  are  livin;^  "  according' to  tiie 
course  of  this  world."  Multitudes  su|tpose  proper  I'ns- 
)>yterianism  to  he  only  a  matter  of  intellect,  of  mere  doc- 
trines, of  forms  and  customs,  unless  it  runs  into  modern 
'' ^jjusli  ;  "  lint  here  we  find,  amidst  the  din  of  war  and  llic 
lowly  lahors  of  a  hackwoods  New  Hampshire  home,  the 
utterances  (d"  lu-arts  ennohled  hy  the  iiidwellin;r<>f  <  Iod.  the 
Spirit  vivifying:  tli.it,  "  fonn  nf  dnetrine  which  is  aceordin:' 


lo  ifodimcss. 


II 


Ullilreils   ol    otiier  wives  ol    tlie  same  lac 


il 


nd  reli^zion,  as  well  as  multitudes  of  others,  amon>f  tjic 
hills  in  the  granite  Stah',  and  thioui^hout  New  l']n;.daiiil, 
under  similar  circumstances  would  then  have  put  lorlli 
just  such  ulteraiices,  and  many  of  them  did  so.  To  thdii 
also  their  hiishands  would,  under  similar  circumstances, 


w 


rite:    "Vallev    Kor-'c,    Dee.    2lM,    1777.       We    mv    i 


II  iW 


making  huts  to  winter  in.  I  feel  sympathy  for  you,  hut 
cannot  he  with  you;  honor  forhids  it.  May  happiness  iit- 
t(!nd  you  nnd  the  (lear  «'hildreu." 

As  ''godliness  i.s  j)rolitublf,"  this  Christiiui  woman  was 


I 


!« 


IN   NEW   ENOT.AND. 


17: 


"(liliijjcnt.  in  businpss,"  MS  well  :is  "  rnvnil  in  s|tirit,"  iiiid 
nililrcssc*!  her  litisliiiixl  while  in  ('nniiiiaiKl  :it  Alltanvon 
,lulv  "»tli.  ITS- :  *■  I  int't»rnif<l  ynu  in  im\  Inst  tlinl  I  IkkI  tni- 
l>lo\ii|  Mr.  Neil,  wjin  \v;is  iilhndinj  at  »unrl,  (o  n|iit>rii(, 


Ilic  line  stale  u|    llie  a 


Hair 


likewise   to  ask  a  eoiilinnaiiee 


till  vol!  Were  aci|iiainte(|  with  the  matter.  Tlie  jinii^e  in- 
loriiu'd  me,  tiuou^ih  Mr.  Neil,  that  I  need  ^ive  niy.seH'  no 
uneasiness  alinnt  (he  mailer,  l"(»r  i(  shonhl  he  rnntiinnil  till 
ifiHir  ritiiin,  il   thai  shi>ulil  he  ///c  iiikI  lunili/  i/nns.'' 

Such  are  some  items,  seleeteij  alnmsl  at  r.indnm.  enii- 
cerniii^  (jonieslic  life  and  |iul>lie  duty  ;im«>n;^'  I'reshyleri- 
ans  in  New  I'liujl.ind  in  Ihose  years  of  tri.il.  ^'e|  tliev 
lorni  hut  a  small  |Mrl  of  ilhi^iralions  m|'  eiidniance  sup- 
|»(»rted  hy  prineiple,  whieh  mi^hl  he  pl-esi-nled. 

Ketorr  passini:  the  helliuc'ent  part  nl  mir  hislorv,  as  if 
all  that  was  done  i'nr  independenee  hy  Treshyterians  in 
New  I'lnnlaiid,  was  dune  nnly  hy  Ilu>^.e  under  Ihe  oriuin.al 
l'resi»yt«'ry  of  Londonderry,  or  Ihe  Synod  of  New  I'ln^i.and 
and  its  sul>ordinate  Treshyieries:  as  (his  was  no|  Iho 
case,  I  nnist  recall  the  jlev.  John  Murray  of  r.oothI>ay. 
Me  a|>pears  to  have  lar;r<'ly  imitated  the  .\poslle  I'eler  in 
liis  impulsive  rashness,  as  well  as  in  his  ranicsl  piety. 

"In  I77">  he  was  a  dele;jale  |o  the  I'roviiieial  (onuirsn 
which  met  in  Wahrtow  n."  Mninc  Hislnrinil  Suriili/  Cul- 
/o'/o;/.s',  vol.  (1,  p.  K'tO.  Mis  I'reshylery  met  (as  we  liavn 
Seen  inn. Inly  the  |lh,;it  New  Market;  a^ain  ( )c|oher  Till, 
177<'»,  at  l"'alnioiith;  at  l'ownalhor<t,  .1  une  1  Itli,  1777,  and 
Ml  r.oothhay,  Ocloher  Slh.  1777. 

Thus,  hiisy  ecclesiastically,  ap|taiently  at  the  \ery  vcriM^ 
ol  civili/.ation,  il  mitdit  l>e  supposed,  thai,  of  him.  tho 
liiivernnieid,  army  and  nav\'  ol  (ireat  Urilain  would  know 
l)iil  little,  an<l  that  his  inlluences  in  Ihe  rehellion  would 
I'c  so  small  MS  (o  appear  unworthy  of  notice,  amou).':  Ihe 
'li'iu'is  of  the  'J.'>!,7'M  .\mericMn  soldicvs  who  were  en[.'M^'cd 
ill  the  war  of  (he  llevolution.  r.iil  il  was  otherwise.  With 
il  mind  of  more  than  ordinaiy  power,  ami  an  utierance 
<ii)  the  jiidiMnenl  ol' ileniamin  l<'r.iiiklin)  not  much  i>il°erior 
te  that  of  W'hi'  licld,  he  was  known  Irom  I'.otdhhay  to 
he^iun.  and  Irom  I'oslon  to  London  as  "  a  pestilent  I'ellow 
Jiiid  a  mover  of  sedition  "'  ajrainst  the  throne  of  Mn^land. 

Hence,  ;i|  Ihe  ahovc  dale,  il  was  de«'l;ired  ill  I'reshylery, 
tlial  Mr.  .Murray  wan  "ixiuiliarly  c.xposcd  hy  the  cominuii 


jl" 


! 


176 


HISTORY  OF  rni:snvTi:ui.\NisM 


t'lKTiiios  of  tlio  T-nitcd  States,"  and  for  sjifcty  lie  wns  tlicn 
invited  to  remove  \<>  Ne\vliniy|»f>rt.  I  li;ive  statt d  lliat  lie 
w.is  tile  cause  and  oeiMsion  ui'  li'ouldt;  in  liis  re;.>;i()n,  and 
Ills  is  proved  l.y  the  seijUej. 

IFe  wa-  not  only  active  mi  the  land.  Init  alx*  onee  ncii- 
i  iiid  on  the  sea.  Sir  (ieor^e  ('oilier  came  t(»  tlie  <'oast  of 
l  I  line  in  1777,  and  his  sail<»r.s  tliou^ihl  il  l.iwl'td  to  pill,  r 
li'om  the  W'liiL's.  p.driots  or  nliels.  In  this  there  umh  d.ui- 
;  er  as  well  as  unplea.^antness  to  those  <»n  shore,  and  a  re- 
monstrance must  lie  mad"'.  To  this  occ;i-ion  Murray  was 
eipial.  Tuttini  on  a  white  wi;.',  ;:;own  and  hinds,  he  wimiL 
on  hoard  and  '*  till<ed  "  against  such   impro|tri(!ties.  <  Ih.) 


inler  llic  (iisuuise  ol   Ills  nian-miinnerv  he  was 


Hi 


mil 


vlloWll 


und  escaped  safely  to  shor<',  with  m.iny  points  <»!'  infonii;i- 
tion  not  pr(!vioir-ly  posses.x  d.  When  this  came  to  \h> 
known  it  hrou-^ht  drwn  threatening',  and  to  seeuro  veii- 
};;eance,  a  premium  was  set  upon  him. 

•' llenee,  at    l*ownalhor<».  on  Oitoher  21st,  1777,  Colonel 

Iteid    reported   to  the   rreshytery.  that    till'    town  of    ]Jo(»lti- 

liay   had    held    a   piiMic   mi'ctiii'j   in    ( oii-eipieiice   ol'  tlio 

he|(M't  men  .hein;^'  ser\cd  with  a  eiij>y  ol'  dur  last,  and  s 

im,'  that  the  situalion  of  Mr.  .Miiiiay">  duellin^r  -the  par- 
ticular Venj;eaili'e  threateiii'cl  hy  the  Coirinion  ClieinV 
against  him,  and  the  lar;^*-  reward  of  ii\<'  hundred  pounds 
Hterlin;;  '  U ")'>")  on.'ied  hy  them  to  .'iny  |M'ison  that  shall 
ileliver  him  up  render  hi^  lou'^er  residence  in  lloothhay 
ut  this  junctui'e  e.xci cdiiijly  danu'crou-.  and  that  they  are 
iherefon!  willing  that.  I'«ir  his  own  salcty,  he  should  iv- 
inove  for  Ji  few  days  to  .my  secur(!  |dace,  exceplinu'  New- 
Ituryport  (whither  they  would  consent  to  his  nnntviii;^' 
upon  in»  terms  whatever  1,  and  that  they  miuht  the  nmre 
iippareiit  niako  their  displeasure  at  the  applic.ilion  Ironi 
H:i\<\  Newhuiyport,  tley  h.-id  not  sent  any  answer  in  writ- 
iii'i,  :iiid  li;i<l  forhidden  tin-  clerk  to  record  any  minute  of 
Haiti  iiieclinji." 

TIk-  r  res  hy  tcry,  ta  kill},'  the  report  into  serious  consitler.'i- 
lion,  ami  having;  reasoned  on  the  suhject,  iudL'<'d  th;it  the 
peo|>le  of  l)Oothhay,  alter  coiisentini.r  to  his  removal,  acl'd 
very  indiscreetly  in  not  leaving'  to  this  judicature  the 
<'lioi(!('  of  his  retreat,  as  they  can  he^t  jud'j^e  where  his  ser- 
vices would  have  heeii  of  most   Use  to  the  cause  of  ( 'hrist. 

"And    allhuugh   this    I'rcshytery   uro    uiuuiimuusly  uf 


.l!i 


IN   NEW  EXGT,AN'D. 


m 


opinion,  tlint  Mr.  Alurmy's  safety  rcfiuircs  his  epeedy  re- 

uiKViil  tioni  that  plarc  lor  the  present,  his  dan^'er  heinj:  ho 
iiinnineiit,  yet.  as  theehnn  li  at  Ncwhuryport  re<iuest<'(l  him 
to  l>e  stilt  Ihfif.  oiily  loi-  si>  Idiij/  as  his  jtnseiit  ehiirire,  whr!i 
iisl<i'<l,  shonltl  eniisciit  tn  :  and.  sinee  they  have  not  a^rrccd 
uiioii  unv  tinic  at  alK  thi>  i'n  >hvterv  (-annot  now  onhT  his 
sojournin;^'  then-  !'<ir  aiiN-  Icim  a-rrcaldy  t«t  their  re(|UeHt." 

■■  ^'et,  that  this  I'lc^hyteiy  may  not  .appear  to  countc- 
iianee  any  stfp  that  wears  tlie  aspect  ol"  nnteiuh'rnes.s  lor 
.Mr.  MiM'ray's  safety,  thi-y  think  it  their  ihity  to  lulvise  him 
s<as(»nal)Iy  to  takr  any  pn  (•■•nition  of  |>in<h'nee  to  i)r('V«'Ut 
liis  falhn^:  into  the  iiands  of  our  foes,  and  therefore  to  r<'- 
iiio\<'  hims<  h'  :ind  his  family  to  any  place  (»f  retreat  ho 
sliali  thiidv  proper,  w'thout  any  exception,  whenever  ho 
apprehends  liimself  and  them  in  su<h  danj^'er  as  retjuires 
it,  and  there  to  eontiniK-  until  he  sh.all  jud<_fe  it  K!»fe  to 
return,  or  until  this  l'rcsl>yteiy  sli.all  take  further  order 
coMctrninj.'  him.  .And  he  is  hcrehy  i^-ieased  j'rom  ail 
ohliuations  to  tin- ehunh  at  r.i»othhay,  that  are  anyway 
ctintrary  to  the  purport  of  this  result." 

'•At  Topsham,  on  .)une  7th,  177H,  it  was  resolved,  that 
Mr.  .Murray  have  hi.s  license  continued  to  go  where  he 
jileases  for  s.afety." 

"  .New  M.irkei.  .luly  1st.  1770.  A  letter  from  the  session 
•  )f  lloothhay  ehureli  was  hroU'.dit  in  and  read,  purporting 
their  utter  dissent  fmm  the  removal  retjucsted,  hut,  with- 
out inforndn;;  the  Preshyt<ry  of  a  descent  of  a  British 
;irnianient  made  in  their  neiMfhhorhood.  which  has  so 
al.iinied  .and  end;inueiTd  tiia!  town,  that  tliev  could  n«)t 
attend  to  this  meetiiitr." 

'■•Inly  '2i\.  .Mr.  Murray  re]»resent<'d  the  necessity  of  his 
JiHclin'i  tiie  conmnttee  of  s.ifety  of  New  Hampshire  at 
l'!\eter  this  .Mlternoon,  to  trans.act  with  them  some  husi- 
iHs<  rel.'itim:  to  the  (h  fenee  of  the  I'lastward  at  this  crisis, 
and  lie'_r:;ed  leave  to  wilhdiaw.     <irante<l." 

'"With  the  splendid  hounty  of  .L'oiHI  sterling  ou  his 
li'iid,    valued  at  the  s;ime  jiricc  with  .l(»hn    Hancock  and 

*  Si(  ltcmI  \v;is  iIic  iiillihiici- <«('  "(lie  I'cv  |)iivi'l  (".ililwcjl,  I).  D.,  n>- 
fidiii;^'  litit  a  lew  milts  iroiii  liiiiUnnl  (  uiiri-linMx*',  .Nnrlii  ('aroliii.i,  tliat 
Hut  only  wan  lii-^  lioiist'  |iliiiMl<'rt'il,  lii-t  Hhnirv  mid  |^:i|)cr.s  liiiriicil,  iiiit 
a  No  a  purse  (if  CL'tiO  \v:ih  ml  iiy  l.cinl  (  (irnw.illiH  on  IiIh  head,  lu  uny 
oiii'  wliM  would  Ijjiiig  liiiii  in  a  iiri>uiKT."  {(Jlidmbfis.) 
12 


m 


178 


HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


m 


t-y^ 


Samuel  Adams,  this  outlaw,  while  under  Divine  Provi- 
dence he  kept  himself  safe  from  shot  and  shell,  wandere*! 
for  above  two  years,  liel)iinu;  coiiniiittees  of  safety  ami 
stirring  up  llie  people  to  continue  unreniitpu^  resistanee 
to  their  foes,  and  on  "October  7th,  1779,  lie  informed  his 
Presbytery,  then  in  session  at  Newlauyjiort,  that  th(!  dan- 
gerod  situation  of  the  p(>o|)le  at  iJooihbay  is  such  as  to 
render  it  impraetical)le  for  tiiem  to  attend  at  this  iiieetiiiLr."' 
Such  was  the  sj)irit  wliich  he  had  instrunientally  dillused 
amon}?  tlwj  inhabitants  of  the  coast  of  Maine.  In  his 
Presbytery  there  were  no  Joim  Morrisons  nor  John  IIous- 
tons.  None  amon<^  his  ac(juuintance  who  would  betray 
him  for  £5(X)  sterling. 

When  we  consider  the  power  and  innuence  of  TTancock, 
the  richest  merchant  in  New  England,  and  of  Samuel 
Adams,  the  far-seeing  and  relialile  statesman,  "  po.ssibly 
the  most  powerful  and  sincere  of  all  the  advocates  of  in- 
dcjjcndencc,  to  whom  Lee,  Jefferson  and  John  Adams 
ever  turnetl  with  singular  resjtcct  "  ( /v/</.  Ltiirrcnre),  nud 
lind  this  Scotch-lrisli  j)reacher,  in  tlic  woods  of  Maine, 
such  a  potent  enemy  to  the  king,  lords  and  parliament  of 
Great  Britain,  that  his  person  is  tiuancially  worth  as  much 
as  either  of  theirs,  in  sulxluing  the  r','bellion,  we  lind  tlie 
position  of  llancroft  vciificil,  he  "brought  to  America  no 
submissive  love  for  England,  and  his  religion  bade  him 
meet  oppression  with  prompt  resistance." 

The  "resistance"  of  the  race  in  America  was  ))rom])teil 
more  l>y  their  religion  than  by  their  experience,  or  even 
the  experience  of  their  fathers.  Their  "form  of  sound 
words,'  which  was  the  key-noti-  from  Maine  to  (leorLiiii 
among  Congregationalisls,  Calvinist  Baptists  and  Presby- 
terians (and  the  Uevolution  bad  in  its  aid  a  very  small 
fragmentary  shewing  among  the  other  sects,  excepting  it 
may  have  bc'cn  the  Low  (lnu'eii  Episcopalians  who  weii' 
Calvinists),  was  the  New  lOngl.ind  Primer.  Beside  this, 
their  creed;  the  Scotch-Irish  throughout  the  revolted 
colonies,  had  their  religion  animated  and  made  strong,  by 

"Those  strains  that  oiitv  cliil  HWCft  in  Zion  j;ii(le  " — {Jiurux) 

the  Scotch  version  of  the  Psalms.  They  considered  those 
good  to  "sing,"  and  if  they  were  not  good  "to  whistle  nr 
to  play,"  they  found  them   as  Cromwell  did  in  his  day, 


l.\ 


IN    NEW  ENGLAND. 


179 


"pood  for  fifrhtinp;."  Honce,  those  who  sung  thrm  wore, 
nt  times,  "trciitt'd  with  sprcijil  cruflty  ;in(l  rcvcjiixc." 
Says  Kc'IhImI.  ill  his  unliiiisli(Ml  history  ol' (ii'iicr.il  .hicU- 
suii,  "Tlic  liritisli  olliccr  who  iiiarclicd  liis  troops  into  tlio 
sctth'inciit  of  W'axhaw,  South  Carohna,  Innnod  the  I'n-s- 
liytt-rian  <'hur(  li  and  tlir  li«»us«.'  ot'  the  preacher,  and  everv 
Ilihie  he  could  lay  his  lian<ls  on  ctintaininj;  tlu;  Scotcii 
translation  of  the  I'sahns  of  David."  {ChriMiaa  //i.-<'.,  vol.  4, 
1>.  217.) 

The  I^ihhs  with  thes(>  Psalms,  was  tlieir  cliosen  coni- 
jiaiiion  when  they  had  leisure  or  rest  from  their  daily  du- 
ties in  the  army.     Hence  when  Captain    David  McC'leary 


fell  at  lienninnton  (on  Au};ust  Kith,  1777)  in  his  p()ck(!t 
was  found  an  Kdinhurj^h  edition  of  the  Hihle,  with  which 
was  hound  up  "  the  S(;otch  translation  of  the  Psalms." 

This  volume  and  tiie  hullet  i)y  which  he  was  killed  were 
kept  as  heirlooms  in  tlu;  family  for  ahove  seventy  years. 

When  1  saw  them  the  days  (»f  the  war,  of  the  psalms, 
anil  of  the  catechism  ( 1  would  not  like  to  say  also  the  day.s 
of  the  liihle)  were  ])ast — the  ^'I'ncrations  were  ;:one  who 
viewed  them  from  time  to  time  with  a  melancholv  vet  iki- 
triotie  interest ;  and  they  wer(>  tlien  ///  tninsitn  in  tho 
hands  of  the  minister  of  Londontlerry,  to  he  conveyed  to 
and  deposite(l  amonj;  the  relies  and  curiosities  collected  ill 
the  State  museum  in  Concord. 

Sih'iit  In/rs  inter  unnn,  and  from  fields  of  rarna;ro,  scenes 
of  donu>stic  alarm,  hereavenu-nt  and  sorrow,  we  now  re- 
turn to  the  ecclesiastical  arena,  and  recommence  hy  no- 


tiiiiii,'  hrielly  the  suhsopU'Ut  career  of  .Mr.  .Murray 


W 


v  his  I  reslivterv,  owm 


'A  to  1 


us  Muminen 


td; 


muer  inero 


til 


lie   was   on   ()et(>her  21st,    1777,  relieved   of  ]\iii   jiastoral 
clKir<j:e,  his  sorrowing  people  at  Boothhay,  and  after  nearly 


tl 


h 


iree  iiusy  years  ol  aiumj;  Mate  an<l  oilier  connnillees  ot 
s;ifety,  and  in  other  ways  (accordinn  to  his  ahility  and  op- 
jKirtunity)  assistin;^  those  en<ia;;e<l  in  the  revolutionary 
strutr^de,  he  was  hy  his  Preshytery,  on  June  14th,  17.S(), 
tninsliiiiil  to  Xewhiiryport,  wdieH'  he  was  finally  "settU'd  as 
pMstor  on  .lune  4th,  17.S1,  a  few  strenuously  opposinj;  his 
settlenient." 

We  have  already  iu)ticed  his  power  as  a  preacher. 
*'  Few  ever  drew  larj.^er  audiences,  or  held  them  in  more 
fi.\c'd  attention  through  discourses,  which  were  ordinarily 


ii 


II 


H 


\ 


180 


niSTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


nn  hour  and  often  two  liours  in  loii^th.  "  Tt  is  rolated  tlmt 
•  lurin;^'  tlic  war  in  a  crisis  in  public  uiTiiirs,  N(!wlturyj)()it 
M;is  callccl  \i|)(»n  to  funiisli  a  lull  ronipany  for  actual  ser- 
vice. I)Ut  owin^'  to  (liscdurairciiicnt  iirisin^'  IVoni  a  depre- 
ciated currency  ;ind  the  state  of  the  army,  theoflicers  laixireil 
three  days  in  vain.  On  the  I'ourth  it  was  moved  that  Mr. 
^Murray  he  invited  to  address  the  re;iinient  then  under  arni>. 
Having'  acce|)ted  the  invitatitm.  he  was  escorteil  to  the 
])arade,  and  hy  the  re;:inient  to  the  church.  There  he  pr<i- 
iiouncc'd  an  address  so  spirited  an<l  aniniatinj:,  that  tlu; 
audiiMice  were  wrapt  in  attentioji.  and  tears  I'ell  iVnni 
many  eyes.  Soon  after  the  assend)ly  was  dismissed  a 
memlx-r  came  forward  to  tak(!  the  command,  and  in  two 
hours  the  company  was  fdled.  W'iien  he  preached  his 
ihanks^'ivin^  sermon  of  two  lK)urs'  len^'th  lor  the  peace, 
a  ^'cnth'man  from  another  society,  heini.'  meanwliile 
mider  <s,rc:il  concern  of  mind  lor  a  spoiling  dinner,  fre- 
ipiently  and  resolutely  took  his  hat  to  leave.  Hut  Mr. 
Min-ray's  ehwpience  as  often  arrested  him,  till  at  last  ho 
whi-j)ere(l,  "  j,et  the  dinner  <^o\  I  inust  hear  him  out." 

1  le  is  said  to  have  heen  sliiilitly  pompous,  hut  diimilied  iu 
l)resence,  courteous,  sincerely  kind,  and  i)y  his  people  en- 
thusiastically hejoved.  In  various  lahors  he  w;is  ahundant, 
and  under  the  divine  favor  was  extensively  successful  in 
the  ministry.  Durini.'  his  sojourn  in  IMiiladelphia  of  a 
few  months  oidy,  the  iicv.  Dr.  (ireen  mentions  that  more 
Were  a<ld(!d  to  tin'  church  than  there  were  duriuLj  the 
whole  ministrv  of  the  Rev.  (iilhert  'reimant.  When  he 
went  to  Bt)othhay,  there  was  no  organized  church,  and  a 
j^eneral  inattention  to  religion.  I'ndtjr  his  ministry  a 
])owerful  awakenimr  commenced,  which  continued  thnjU'jli 
two  years  and  e.\tende(l  to  adjoinin;^  towns,  his  own 
loduin^'s   hein<^  often  crowded    with    empiirers,   even   till 


thi 


•ee  ( >  I 


•lock 


in 


th 


le  iiKtrnin^'.     His  jirivate  (hary  of  thi- 


]»eriod  indicates  deep  |)ie(y  and  unusual  ministeriid  faith- 
fulness. As  it  may  he  useful  to  others,  1  j^ivc;  j)ortions  of 
it  from  (ti'cenltutfs  EfdcK'm.sdntl  Shtchc.s : 

"Mr.  Murray\s  plan  of  visitiiiLr  as  noted  in  his  diary  is 
orthv  of  attention.       /•V/•.^•^  salute*   the    house.      Sccdiid, 


\\ 


rom]»are  the  list  with  the  family  ;  mark  them  who  c;ni 
read,  catechisahlcs.  »!ovenanters,  church  mond)ers.  Third, 
mldrcss,    1st,  children    to   en<,'age  in   curly   religion;   'Jd, 


IN    NEW   ENGLAND. 


181 


yoiinp:  onos  to  rondin^,  st'crct  prayer,  the  Sal)l)ath,  pood 
cninpaiiy,  pxxl  hours,  ^ood  toiijiiics,  conversations.  Fourth, 
a<l(lr('ss  parents — 1st,  about  tlieir  spiritual  state;  2(1,  secret 
devotion;  .'id,  laniily  worshijt,  ;iovernnient,  catechising; 
4th,  Sahhalh,  etc.  If  church  ineinhers,  see  \vhat  prolit ; 
it"  in  error  or  vice,  reclaim;  il'  in  divisions,  heal;  it"  j»oor, 
help,     /.ffs////,  exhortation  to  all,  |)ray." 

"To  his  prayerf'uhiess,  meekness,  ^lood-will  and  p;.tient 
endurance  of  injuries  in  iiis  lat<'r  years,  as  well  as  his 
faithfulness  in  his  calling,  hio;^raphers  hear  ample  testi- 
mony (  Vcrm.)^ 

"As  his  prondnent  wronir-doiiiir  was  in  early  life.  Mr. 
I'arsons  took  .speciid  pains  to  write  to  Kngland  ahout  Inm, 
and  the  result  was  a  decide«l  conviction,  that  the  faults 
conmntted  connected  with  his  own  humhle  acknowledi^- 
nient  should  not  deliar  him  from  Christian  charity."  {V>.) 
lie  was  active  in  promoting  relii,Mon  heyond  his  own  con- 
gregation. He  was  the  guiding  spirit  and  chief  supporter 
of  a  society  which  aided  many  young  men  to  enter  tho 
ministry. 

He  had  unquestionably  h'S  faults.  His  great  fault, 
forging  signatures  to  his  credentials,  and  jiersisting  in  this 
tiu'ough  lifi',  rather  than  disgrace  his  friends  in  Scotland, 
was  an  heinous  sin.  This  he  committed  at  eighteen. 
From  twenty-three  his  life  was  jtuldicand  unimpi'ached — 
a  Ufe  of  great  devotedness,  and  in  wdiat  extenuating  pen- 
itence passed,  a  letter  will  show.  In  1771  he  writes: 
"Th«'  daily  views  I  have  had  of  the  multiplied  enornntic^ 
it  occasioned  me.  all  of  which,  with  the  unhap|»y  conse- 
i|Uenees  to  the  churcii  of  Christ,  have  been  continually  be- 
fore my  eyes — have  made  me  wish  my  name  blotted  (»ut 
of  remembrance  by  all  mankind,  and  'Vt-n  regret  the  day 
of  my  i)irth  times  without  number.  The  Searcher  of 
.'ill  hearts  knows  my  agonies  of  nnnd  on  every  review,  and 
that  no  restoration  to  th«'  fav(»r  of  men  can  ever  give  mo 
'•iise  ;  and  that  but  for  the  application  of  (iilead's  heavenly 
halm,  1  h;id  perished  oi"  my  wounds  years  ago  not  a  few. 
1  fmd  my  condbrt  in  my  oljseurity — tlxre  I  iiope  to  tind 
lay  (Jod;  and  tiiere  1  see  less  danger  of  being  a  slundilin;:- 
hloek  in  Zion,  the  very  itiea  of  which  t(»  me  is  worsi;  thau 
death.  1  have  not  a.  wish  to  be  drawn  from  my  retire- 
muiit  (Bootlibayj;  there  will  1  remain  in  secret  places, 


t 
H 


I'JIiIrt 


I  i 


t'l 


!     If: 


llfl 


182 


HISTORY  OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


looking  to  liim  wlioiu  T  piorrod,  and  tvioiirninu'  as  for  an 
only  son,  and  strivinu'  to  wc.ir  ont  the  rcinjiindcr  of  my 
cumbrous  life  in  the  lM'f^tt'ndcaVi»r.s  1  can  in  iiis  service," etc. 

"  No  lartlirr  •'t'il<  lii^  mi'rit><  to  (liticlnsc, 

Nor  i\\i\vf  lii.x  iVuiltiis  from  tlii'ir  dn-itd  nlxMle; 
Tin  n"  tlu-y  aliki-  in  trcniMin);  liopu  rtposc, 
TIm-  bosom  of  his  KatliiT  and  liin  (Jod."' 

He  died  Marcli  loth,  17*.):i.  He  left  a  widow.  Susiui.  the 
eldest  daniihter  of  (Jeneral  Lith;.M)W,  of  IMiipiishuiLih.  an<l 
live  chilchcn,  yjl  minors,  and  as  lie  had  dcviscil  of  his 
puhstancr  for  a  Imrsc  to  aid  pious  youn^  men  in  entering 
tin'  ministry,  she,  six  months  afterward,  petitioned  his 
Preshytcry,  to  whom  it  was  entrusted,  to  i('liin|uish  their 
claims  to  the  sulistanee  thus  (k'visech  This,  from  the 
facts  set  forth  in  her  )>etition,  tln-y  (h>uhtless  did  — oth(>r- 
wise  they  might  have  been  constructively  charged  with 
devouring  a  "  willow's  house." 


IN  NEW   ENGLAND. 


183 


.     CHAPTER  VII. 

17(53-1793 — A  year  of  mark— Slavory  aholisliod  in  tin*  colony — Stone 
walls — Kilfy  carried  tli*'  root-.ttovc  to  «'liiir(li  tor"  Missa" — "Attiicks" 
— Tin- Synod  and  l*rt'sl)vti'rifs — llouHton  ^nilty  of  a  hroacli  of  promise 
— Siis|H'iHK'd — Kt'stortMl  -A  (Mhi-  of  liij^auiy — iK-ad,  yi't  alive — IVler- 
lioro  tonj;ri'natioii  ri'tjiu-sli'd  a  (lismission— ( iraiited — Tlie  Aasoi'iate 
Clnirch — HraHH  instead  of  jjoldon  sliiclds — Tlio  camp — Ki'duci'd  to 
Htraits  as  for  snl).-iiMlt'nce — Artisans  -  Miinsters  who  arc  not  parish  ofli- 
ciids — Voluntary  snjiport  -  The  extravagant  jirice  of  food,  etc.,  a 
ri'comnieniiation — (,'oinnnitalive  Justice — Divine  i»rovidt'nc»'s  traced  in 
llieirtroiihUs — Causes — Iloary — Assassination — Nioney  can  he  mad*' — 
.lolin  Lowe — John  Adainsand  the  Sahhath — The  Centennial  c(»n>miH- 
sioii — Claverhonse  — \';cst  iilessinj^s  — An  address — A  letter  totJrafton 
I'ri'shytery — Of  it  hut  little  is  known  —  Mend»ers  of  it^Oalvanized  — 
i;tli)rl  to  unite  with  it — UnavaiiiiiK — Records  of  Synod  defective — 
Huiiston  restore<l — Families  conlincd  to  their  own  parishes  in  I)erry 
e.ist  and  west  hv  the  civil  coiu't  —  I'elhani  not  hv  a  town  tax — Advice 


ams  itro 


asked — Cases  of  apiieal  —  luv.  Messrs.  Annan  ex  oflicio — Willi 
tests — Revision — Williams'  reasons  —Synod  concentrating'  power-To 
avoid  John  Murray  —  Williams  declared  jjuilty  and  suspended  hy 
Synod — These  hiessed  eflects — ,\s.sociate  I'reshylery  of  New  York— 
I'nshytery  on  Coimecticut  river —An  act  of  I're.-<hytery  over-rule<l — 
Past  noon-day  aixl  ehhin;,' —Causes  -A  hurse  wanted-  W;ir  times — 
I'dVi-rty — (iastric  juice  -Violent  tempers- The  want  of  the  stated  or- 
dinaiuH's— Conj;re<,'ations  canu-  ti>  I'reshyterianism  -Contused  way — 
So  mi  Id — The  church  oft  he  town,  if  not  of  the  l.oid  -The  war  produce<l 
liclclerious  elK-cts—  I'aucity  of  ideas—The  power — 'i'ook  its  rise  in 
New  Kufjfland- -The  sword — To  <'onform  to  the  local  system — The 
ni;irria^e  relations — Mrs.  Coloru'l  ReitI  Mental  inst.diilily — ho^ic — 
liilrii(U'rs  Nor  set  n  a  drunkt;n  man — The  ;iir  of  iiithusiasm  -  Theo- 
lip;;ical  thou>;hl  imported  -Of  one  man-  Souls  annihilated  The  soul 
iif  Jesus  Christ  the  lirsl  thinu  made  -Ry  it  t  iod  made  all  things  el.se 
— Fointeeii  particulars  -The  outpiinn;s  of  the  .soul  of  the  doctor — ■ 
I>avid  turne<l  into  a  Chri.>tian-  -Columan — The  whale  with  Jonah — 
"A  felt  WMiU "-  Tile  iiijoyment  of  it  —  .\  hiimhle  remonstrance  — 
"Iclialiod"  —  No  union  was  etliited  —  Last  meeting;  of  Synod  Sep- 
teiiiher  I'JtIt,  17St* — Thev  suhmitted      Rrcshvteiv  of  Salem— Decav — 


rii 


ices  where  il  for  a  time  existed 


Tl 


lis   new  thinjj- 


Tl 


le  worshiu — 


Tlu'  loaves  and  lislies  were  small     Tlu*  collapse 


1770  was  a  year  of  mark    in    Masi-;i<;husctts.     Ky  an 
aiiKudmcnt  of  her  coiiatitutioii,  slaves  were  made  free  in 


184 


HISTORY   OF    rRFSnYTKIUANISM 


tho  colony.  Altlmimli  liavin;,'  ji  (•(itiinn'rciiil  vjiluo,*  (hoy 
liiid  iin';isiir:il>ly  Ihi-m  ;i  liuitlcn  to  iiiiiny  owners.  iVom  tlic 
<l:iy  on  wliidi  .\o<Mlf  (;ilfti'  wlioni  Nmlillr's  IsliintI,  now 
Kiist  Itoston,  \v;is  r.-illcih  liml  inlrodiifcd  tlic  lii>l  one.  ;ni<l 
on  ol»tiiinin<^  iVrcdoMi,  tiny  Idl  I'rw,  it;iny,  monuments  in 
Jirool"  ol'  the  ser\ile  system,  exce|it  Iult  those  nin^'es  ol'  stone 
•walls,  es|te<'i!dly  old  line  lenees,  wliich  may  yet  i»e  oeea- 
hionally  I'oimd,  all  htit  hmied,  hy  thr  I'oree  of  ^Mavitation 
constantly  applied  loi-  ahove  a  century.  In  those;  winter 
days,  when  steam-pipes  and  I'urnaees  were  uid<n(»wn  for 
the  distrihution  ol'  heat  in  ehurehes,  •'  Killy,  or  "  I'ele,"  or 
l>y  whatever  »)tlu'r  name  known,  loimd  it  to  he  his  duty 
to  earrv  the  (not  stove  and  hot  liriek  lor  "Mann,"  or 
"  MisHH,"  and  deposit  it  in  position  in  her  pew,  an<l  to  take 
it  home  when  it  had  perlormed  its  olliee. 

How  tar  "  iH'cessity  "  wa.s  in  this  cumi  "tho  niotlHT  ot" 
invention"  iti  hrin^dn^i  in  the  general  application  ot"  larj.'o 
Ftoves  lor  heatinji  cliureli(  .•«,  I  know  not,  hut  assuredly  it 
is  well  that  .sliivery  has  ^oiie.  In  owniim  persons  of  color, 
ministers,  uh  well  as  others,  participated.  They  often,  if 
not  generally,  had  eai^h  one  or  more  slaves.!  I'rcshytf!- 
rians  as  well  as  otlurs  took  "stock"  in  the  institution. 
.John  liittle,  the  patron  of  I'reshyterianism  in  liost(»n,  dis- 

1>osed  of  one  of  his  hy  will,  while  a  man  lielon^ino;  to  the 
{ev.  John  Moorehciul  olitaiiied  his  Ircedonj,  went  to 
]{ritain  and  dii  d  there.  The  letters  from  him  in  l']n;.dand 
wer«'  matters  of  pleasure  to  the  Mooreheail  family  lor  many 
y(!arH.  Mis  education,  common  and  reli^dous,  had  not 
neen  nejilccted  in  the  parsonajie.  l{i,sin'4  iVom  indiviilual 
hondaj^'c  to  personal  iVeedom,  from  hein^  thini/s  to  Ik; 
men,  they  aided  in  (  reatiu).'  a  de.viie  for  civil  liherty  in 
the  colony,  'i'licir  release  from  honda<;e  did  not  hinder 
the  dillusion  of  this  species  tif  sentimentality  amon;z  the 
"  spimiers  "  and  their  adnurers.  The  "  sons  "  and  "  <lau^di- 
ters  ot'  liherty  "  heeame  in  a  few  years  a  force  of  inereas- 
inu;ly  inlluential  pr(>|)ortions  in  the  colony,  whih;  "Attucks"' 
was  anion;j;  the  first  live  whose  hlood  ( fidm  under  his  hiack 
Hkini  |)rccipitated  the  mortal  enmhat  of  the  licvolution. 

*  III  17t»<(  A.  .loliuiiiitll's  lie;,'!!)  mull  \\;ei  v.iliii-il  ril  U.V!  *>s.  S(/.,  iiiiil  ;i 
iH'Hro  woman  :it    tlti. 

fill  IT'tlllit*  lv<'V.  .loiialliaii  Iviwanis  and  wil'u  wutilt-d  lo  Imy  llio 
liev.  Mr.  Ufllauiy'.s  m-gro  wuiuaii.     (  \V.,  [k  tiiiU.) 


IN    NFAV    MNOLAND. 


185 


As,  .'it  thai  |Mri<>(|.  tln'  master  was  not  too  liaii^lity  In 
lalior  at  tin-  saim-  wnik  with  his  slavr,  sn  the  lalmr  on  ihn 
j'aiiii  hrcaiiic  iiioii'  pioduftivo,  as  the  |»r()<'i'«'(lH  vvcfj'  ultrr- 
wanls  iri|iiii'c<l  nnly  to  sii|i|M»rl  rn-ciiu'ii. 

Laws  rrniilaliii;^  the  iilmii  ol'  >lavrs  were  iio  l()ii;.M'r  rc- 
i|iiir«'«l,  aiul  ill  scvrral  other  ways  the  New  l'ai;:laii(l  f'olo- 
iiieM  tnnk  a  |ii«  (speniiis  "new  (lepartiire "  alter  177'', 
:ilthnii;,'h  slavery  ili<|  not  rli-a|i|»e,ir  until  1771. 


W 


e    li:ive   previously   liotieefl  a   lew  of   the  ilieitJentH  CfUl 


iieeteil  with  the  period,  wliieh  illustrate  eharaeter  hoth  ill 
the  peo|ile  and  tin- ministry  diirin^i  the  seven  years' war; 
iHid  wr  now  return  to  matters  e«(|<'si;istieal  -  to  the  Synod 
and  lo  the  Treslis  icries. 

'{'he  annual  inettin;:  of  the  Symul  ot"  New  Knj.dand  in 
1777  was  held  in  I/aidonderry  on  Septiinher  .'Jd.  Anion;; 
other  matters  they  examined  the  re;rular  ollieial  staiidini; 
ot.lohn  Houston  as  a  elemyman.  lie  professed  to  Synod 
that  he  had,  us  directed,  satislie*!  the  le^al  aulh<»rities  of 
his  town  as  to  his  hiyalty  to  the  Declaration  of  Indepcn- 
(Icnco,  and  that  he  had  made  due  report,  as  he  was  directed, 
t<»  his  I'resltytery. 

r.ut  their  minute  reads,  "  I'ev.  Mr.  Houston  hein^r  in- 
terrouMted  respectiiM.'  the  minute  in  his  ease  in  our  last 
III)  ct in;:,  and  it  appe:irini;  that  he  h.as  heen  <_Miilty  ol  a 
liiiiich  of  promi-e  and  ;il  so  of  con  tempt  to  the  Synod,  they 
do  therefore  deem  him  iiiiwoi-|jiy  of  a  seat  in  this  l»ody, 
till  lit!  shall  make  >atislaclion  to  the  Synod  lor  the  same, 
and  do  now  ai^ain  reeonimeiid  it  to  him,  to  proceed  in  iIm; 
nianiier  hel'ttre  directed,  to  hriiii:  the  satistaclion  desired 
at  our  next  sitting',  either  to  his  rreshytery  or  immediately 
to  tiir-  Synod."  This  he  was  reluctant  to  <lo  until  they 
siis|»ended  him.  when  he  made  ••oiilessiou.  proniise(l  ohrdi- 
ciicc  and  was  re»;t(M'ed  to  lull  ollieial  stamlinL'. 

To  this  coid'ession  of  wioiiu'-doin;;  towards  the  j^ovcrn- 
iiicnt,  he  was  rather  hastenitl  hy  his  people,  for  throutdi 
tlicir  committee  they  madi- "  application  to  the  Synod  lor 
advice  respecting'  the  all'air  of  the  Uev.  Mr.  Houston  and 
tliiit  con.L're^ration,''  and  the  case  was  remitted  to  "the 
I'resliytery  to  hear  and  jud'je  in  the  ;illair/' 

lie  cniiiiniied  for  several  years  to  he  till' pastor  of  I'lcd- 
lord  con;,'re^Mtion,  and  was  dismissed  in  ^'ood  stuuding  hy 
the  ['rewhytcry  of  Salem,  on  Junu  1st,  HJ^o. 


^ 


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IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


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t/j 


fA 


1.0 


I.I 


1.25 


1.8 


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y 


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e    MP. 


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ii 


186 


HISTORY   OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


A  matter  of  reference  from  the  session,  of  Nottinfjjlium, 
brought  before  Synod,  touching  the  purity  of  a  meniljer, 
was-  settled  in  this  way :  "  The  Synod  conclude  that  the 
session  committed  an  error  in  judgment,  and  do  restore 
Elder  Emerson  to  his  former  good  standing." 

By  a  case  of  bigamy  brought  before  them,  the  Synod 
appear  to  have  been  puzzled,  and  gave  rather  an  accom- 
modating deliverance,  somewhat  different  from  the  record 
of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah.     It  runs  thus : 

"  Tins  Synod  are  of  oi)inion,  considering  his  first  wife 
dead  in  law  to  him,  though  yet  alive,  she  having  married 
another  man,  he  may  now  lawfully  live  with  the  woman 
to  whom  he  is  now  married,  and  upon  a  proper  public 
manifestation  of  repentance  he  may  have  the  privileges  of 
the  church."'  "^ 

"  Moreover,  considering  the  heinousness  of  this  crime, 
we  judge  it  proper  his  confession  be  repeatedly  published, 
he  being  present  in  the  congregation  where  he  resides,  and 
that  he  be  not  restored  till  after  the  next  session  of  this 
Synod."  To  them,  at  their  annual  meetings,  references 
and  appeals  were  frequently  made,  and  at  times  requests 
for  separation  were  i)resented. 

Thus  at  Londonderry,  on  October  1st,  1778,  the  church 
and  congregation  of  Peterboro  presented  a  petition,  re- 
questing a  "  dismission  and  a  recommendation  to  the 
(Associate,  styled  by  them  the)  reverend  Seceding  Presby- 
tery of  New  York."  This  lenomination,  "  Seceders,"  we 
have  previously  seen  was  brought  into  existence  by  the 
Congregational  element  in  a  church  in  New  York  city,  in 
which  the  rulers  of  it  were  overruled  by  a  faction  intent 
on  changing  the  psalmody  of  the  congregation.  In  1774 
the  Rev.  Moses  Baldwin  agitated  the  matter  successfully 
for  the  use  of  ''the  psalms  imitated  to  the  ignoring  and  the 
rejecting  of  the  Presbyterian  version,  and  feeling  the  ef- 
fects and  seeing  the  consequences  (as  they  had  now  become 
general  through  the  Synod  of  New  England),  this  congre- 
gation thought  proper  to  "ask  for  the  old  paths,"  and  to 
"walk  in  the  good  way,"  as  sul)servient  to  the  "rest  of 
their  souls."  This  the  Ai^.wdate  CUiurch  of  Scotland  had 
done.  For  being  Calvinists,  they  could  say  with  Calvin, 
nobody  has  yet  appeared  who  could  prove  that  we  have 
appointed  any  new  thing  contrary  to  His  word.     They 


IN    NEW    ENGLAND. 


187 


considcrccl  that  the  law  of  the  Lord,  of  whicli  the  Psalms  for 
tluir  appointed  use  forn;  a  ])art,  is  perfect. 

Consequently  the  Scoteii-Irisli  of  Peterboro,  not  yet 
ready,  through  poetical  sokitions,  the  imitations,  to  dilute 
and  dissolve  their  doctrine,  but  especially  their  worsliip, 
ilcsired  an  union  with  those  who  (under  some  disadvan- 
tages) were  "  contending  more  closely  for  tlie  faith  once 
delivered  to  the  saints." 

In  doing  this,  they  acted  orderly,  respectfully,  and  yet 
firmly,  and  to  this  court  their  application  was  perplexing. 
''They  were  hopeful  that  this  their  Synod  would  exten- 
sively, if  not  eventually,  embrace  under  its  broad  name  all 
Presbyterians  in  New  England."  Still  they  dismissed  them 
in  peace,  saying,  "Taking  the  case  into  solenm  considera- 
tion, and  observing  the  fair  prospect  of  having  the  gospel 
rcgidarly  settled  among  them,  do  hereby  dismiss  and 
recommend  them  in  good  standing  with  this  body  to  that 
Presbytery."    This  was  honorable.* 

The  years  of  the  revolutionary  struggle  have  been  well 
called  "  the  times  that  tried  men's  souls."  A  large  part 
of  the  productive  industry  of  the  provinces  was  drawn  off 
to  the  camp.  The  tillage  had  to  be  extensively  conducted 
by  the  mothers,  the  youth  and  the  children.  \\'here  any 
surplus  could  be  produced,  they  Avere  far  from  good 
markets,  and,  as  a  consequence,  those  who  did  not  own 
soil,  and  had  but  skill  and  industry  on  which  to  depend 
for  their  subsistence  and  the  support  of  their  households, 
were  measurably  reduced  to  straits.  They  did  not  often 
partake  of  "  dainties."  While  this  was  trying  to  me- 
chanics, it  fell  with  ef{Ual  power  on  not  a  few  of  the  min- 
isters, especially  the  Presbyterian  ones,  who  were  in  many 
towns  not  the  first  nor  parish  ollicials.  For  them  no  salary 
could  be  collected  by  the  town  constable.  They  nmst  de- 
pend on  the  voluntary  support  of  their  congregations  and 
in  all  the  afflictions  of  their  people  be  afiPlicted. 

lienee  on  October  1st,  1778,  after  dismissing  the  congre- 
gation of  Peterboro  and  instructing  their  clerk  to  obtain 
from  the  executors  of  the  late  Rev.  David  McGregor  some 
papers  belonging  to  the  Synod,  on  their  records  tliey  enter 
the  following  minute: 

*  Being  thus  dismissed  on  Oct.  1, 1778.  in  the  same  month,  Mr,  David 
Annan  was  called  and  he  was  ordained  in  Wallkill,  New  York,  by  the 
Associate  Presbytery,  "  with  Peterboro  for  his  destination." 


!! 


188 


HISTORY   OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


1   '  «  >»'■■ 


l?i 


"  The  Rev.  John  Strickland,  intimating  that  he  cannot 
subsist  his  family  through  the  extravagant  price  of  the 
necessaries  of  life — the  smallness  of  his  salary,  and  the 
neglect  of  the  people  to  pay  up  his  arrears — the  Synod  be- 
ing sensible  that  this  is  the  case,  do  recouimend  it  to  the 
society  of  Nottingham  to  pay  up  his  arrears  and  make 
such  addition  to  his  salary  as  shall  compensate  for  the 
rise  of  the  price  of  the  necessaries  of  life  for  the  year  past, 
as  well  as  for  th"  time  to  conic;  and  in  case  they  shall  not 
do  this,  we  think  it  Mr.  Strickland's  duty  to  })reach  occa- 
sionally to  vacancies  as  he  may  have  opportunity,  as  a 
means  of  adding  to  his  support,  he  still  continuing  his  re- 
lation and  preaching  to  them  except  as  above."  This  was 
during  the  war. 

"  The  Synod,  taking  into  consideration  the  distressing 
case  of  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  in  general,  and  those  of 
this  Synod  in  particular,  on  account  of  the  smallness  of 
their  salaries,  compared  with  the  exorbitant  prices  of  the 
necessaries  of  life,  whereby  many  of  them  are  reduced  to 
the  greatest  straits  and  indigence,  therefore  the  Synod  do 
recommend  it  to  the  several  congregations  under  its  care 
to  exert  themselves  to  make  a  proper  compensation  to 
their  ministers  and  supplies,  according  to  the  rise  of  the 
necessaries  of  life,  which  is  no  more  than  simple  commu- 
tative justice ;  and  they  think  it  the  duty  of  the  re- 
spective Presbyteries  to  pay  a  due  attention  to  the  necessi- 
ties of  their  ministers,  and  make  the  best  provision  in 
their  power  for  relieving  their  distresses,  by  appointinj^ 
them  to  supply  vacancies  and  other  ways  as  the  Presbytery 
shall  think  best." 

Tl)is  was  not  all.  As  watchmen,  they  traced  the  mani- 
festations of  Divine  Providence  in  their  troubles,  domestic, 
social  and  civil,  and  on  the  same  day  record  :  "  The  Synod, 
inquiring  into  the  cause  of  God's  controversy  with  this 
land,  are  of  opinion  that  among  many  causes  the  follow- 
ing are  the  principal :  1.  TJie  great  and  general  declension 
of  religion,  occasioned  by  too  general  a  neglect  of  the  duties 
of  public  and  family  worship.  2.  By  the  neglect  of  church 
government,  which  has  opened  a  door  for  the  s))read  of  error 
and  increase  of  erroneous  teachers  in  the  churches.  3.  For 
the  neglect  of  family  government  and  religion,  and  for  the 
neglect  of  civil  government.     Heuoe  arises  the  dreadful 


IN   NEW  ENGLAND. 


189 


increase  of  vice  and  immorality,  injustice,  oppression,  de- 
frauding and  injuring,  a  neglect  of  the  ministry  and  of  their 
support."' 

Ln  these  post-centennial  years  compared  with  1778, 

"  Time  but  tlie  impression  deeper  makes, 
As  streams  their  elianiiels  deeper  wear," 

These  specified  neglects  and  declension  have  become 
hoary  in  productiveness,  and  in  a  century  their  conse- 
quences and  effects  are  increasingly  felt.  Among  tliese 
effects  is  a  searedness  of  conscience,  until  multitudes  in 
our  land  would  rather  say  with  the  pagans  of  old ;  "  It  is 
a  chance  which  has  happened  to  us  "  than  ''  it  is  the  Lord : 
let  him  do  what  seemeth  to  him  good  ;"  while  truth  is 
extensively  fallen  in  our  streets,  while  equity  cannot  enter, 
while  blood  touches  blood  and  the  safety  of  liuman  life 
from  assassination  is  daily  diminishing,  rather  than  admit 
that  God  has  (or  is  capable  of  having)  any  "controversy 
with  tliis  land." 

In  the  meantime,  in  this  region,  the  ministers  of  religion 
are  extensively  like  the  ox  in  Egypt,  a  "  victim  "  or  a  "god." 

The  "  beautiful  man,"  the  "  smart  man,"  the  "  powerful 
man  "  wlio,  with  "  gush  draws  large  houses,"  is  pampered 
with  his  thousands,  while  the  faithful  ambassadors  of 
Christ,  as  a  rule,  under  any  name,  have  ("  as  good  sol- 
diers ")  to  "endure  ha;  aness."  Yes,  money  can  be  now 
made  in  New  England  in  the  pulpit  as  well  as  by  the  lan- 
cet, or  by  delving  into  Blackstone.  Hence  we  have  "  like 
people  like  ))riest,"  as  well  as  "  like  priest  like  peo|)le." 

Another  "  cause  of  God's  controversy  with  our  land," 
now  when  vice,  immorality,  injustice  and  fraud  are 
prevalent,  manifested  by  an  overwhelming  commercial 
depression,  which  none  will  deny,  from  1873  did  exist  for 
years  onward,  is  our  desecration  of  the  Christian  Sabbath. 
It  had  not  then  lost  so  extensively  its  hold  upon  con- 
science. For  example,  when  John  Lowe  came  to  Boston 
from  Scotland,  in  June,  1773  (as  his  son  informed  me),  he 
found  his  hoarding-house  at  noon  on  Sal.)bath  too  noisy  to 
allow  liim  to  read  Ins  Bible  in  quietness,  and  he  went  out 
to  the  common  and  commenced  to  do  so  vmder  a  tree.  He 
was  forthwith  visited  by  a  select  man,  who  said,  "  Young 
man,  I  cannot  allow  you  to  stay  here  to-day."     "  Why, 


f 


190 


HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


sir?  I  am  doinp;  no  harm,  only  readinp^  my  Bible.  I 
found  my  boardintr-house  (wlion  T  catno  l)ack  from  nu'ct- 
ing)  ratlicr  noisy,  and  1  thoULilit  I  would  ho  (^uiet  and  do 
no  harm  here."  "That  may  all  be,  and  1  can  give  you  a 
room  in  my  house  to  read  in,  hut  [  eannot  let  you  stay 
here."  He  oceupied  the  room  until  the  hour  ot  worship 
came,  wlu'ii  lie  revisited  the  Presbyterian  meetingdiouse 
in  Long  I  jane. 

Not  many  years  from  the  same  date,  Governor  John 
Adams  liad  oiHcial  Inisiness  in  mid-winter,  beyxmd  the 
site  of  tiie  present  cit}'  of  Lowell,  when  a  severe  storm 
brouglit  an  unusual  depth  of  snow,  and  delayed  his  return 
to  Quincy  until  "the  roads"  were  "  broken."  It  was  as- 
certained that  the  path  could  be  travelK-d  on  8abl:»ath,  and 
his  informants  urged  liim,  as  he  hud  left  Mrs.  Adams 
severely,  if  not  dangerously  ill,  some  days  since,  that  he 
had  better  return  on  that  the  Lord's  day.  But  no;  Puri- 
tanism had  as  yet  too  firm  a  grasp  of  his  mind,  and  ho 
answered,  "  I  could  do  so  with  a  clear  conscience,  hut 
many  might  imitate  my  example  who  would  not  know 
my  motives."  Hence  he  "rested  (tlun-e)  on  the  Sabbath- 
day  according  to  the  commandment." 

Tru(.',  we  have  still  the  evidence  that  the  Christian  Sab- 
bath has  3'et  an  extensive  grasp  upon  the  American  mind, 
when  the  (Vntennial  connnissioners  did,  80  to  9,  at  Phila- 
delphia, in  187(),  iirndy  oppose  the  opening  of  the  ex|)()si- 
tion  on  tliat  da}',  for,  perhaps,  no  greater  combination  of 
the  odds  and  ends  of  creation  could  be  brouglit  to  bear 
U])on  any  board  of  managers  than  that  to  which  they  were 
BubjectcMl  b}'  the  combined  influences  of  Papal  bishoi)S, 
Unitarian  ])reachers,  Jews,  native,  French  and  German 
Infidels,  Atheists  and  drunkard  manufacturers.  These 
all  gav<>  warning  of  a  persistent  determination  that,  for  the 
sake  of  sensual  })leasure,  under  the  plea  of  lil)erty  of  con- 
science they  would  (with  Graham  of  Claverhouse,  when 
lie  had  murdered  John  Brown  of  Priesthill),  "  take  (iod 
in  their  own  hands,"  and  defy  any  "controversy"  which 
he  could  possibl}'  have  with  our  land. 

The  assailants  of  our  civil  and  religious  privileges  are  in 
growing  fellowshi]>  and  combination,  and  "  etornal  vigi- 
lance "  must  ever  be  (under  God)  the  price  to  us  of  these 
.vast  blessings. 


Ihese 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


lai 


The  above  assij^ned  reasons  of  "  controvers}''  "  their  mod- 
erator was  "ai)i)ointed  to  transcribe,  corrof't  and  print  in 
the  form  of  an  adch'ess  for  distribution  amonu;  the  l'ri'sl)V- 
terifs,  at  the  char;j:e  of  the  Synod," 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Whittaker  was  then  appointed  "to  write  a 
letter  to  the  Presbytery  of  Grafton,  si;^nifyin,i;  tlieir  desire, 
that  the  said  Presbytery  would  join  this  Synoch"' 

The  date  of  formation,  members,  boundaries,  vital  force, 
usefulness,  as  well  as  the  length  of  its  days  cannot  now  be 
fully  asc(!rtained,  as  the  iiiding-place  of  its  minutes,  if  tiiey 
exist,  is  known  only  to  a  few.  It  seems  to  have  existed  m 
central  New  Hampshire  and  eastern  Vermont  from  al)out 
1776  to  1796,  as  it  is  called  not  only  Grafiou  Presbytery 
but  also,  in  existing  minutes,  "  The  Presbytery  of  Connect- 
icut River."  Of  it  the  Rev.  John  M.  Whiton,  of  IJenning- 
ton,  N.  PL,  wrote,  in  February,  1856: 

"  It  is  well  known  that  both  the  founder  and  the  origi- 
nal church  of  Dartmoutli  College  were  Presl)yterian,  and 
that  the  Presbytery  of  Grafton  in  that  vicinity  was  large 
and  flourishing  for  some  fourteen  years;  that  Presbyterian 
churches,  or  ministers,  were  once  found  in  Hanover,  lOast 
Hanover,  Croyden,  Lyme,  Orford,  Piermont,  X.  H. ;  and 
in  Norwich,  Hartford,  Fairlee,  Royalton,  Tunbridge,  Ran- 
dolph, Thetford,  Barnard,  Newbury,  Topsham,  and  ])er- 
haps  other  towns  in  Vermont;  tliat  the  two  Presidents 
Wheelocks,  Professors  Smith  and  Ripley,  the  Judges 
Ik'zalcel  and  William  H.  Woodward,  and  Rev.  Messrs. 
Burroughs  of  Hanover,  Conant  of  Lyme,  Potter  of  Nor- 
wich, Hutchinson  of  Pomfret,  Bowman  of  Barn:u*d,  Powers 
of  Newbury  and  Burton  of  Thetford  (who  was  at  one  time 
its  clerk),  were  prominent  members  of  that  Presbytery." 

It  appears  to  have  been  a  close  body  or  corj)oration, 
springing  by  Congregational  vitality,  as  to  its  worship, 
doctrines  and  usages,  into  a  galvanized  existence,  formed 
from  ))artial  convictions  of  the  Divine  authority  of  Prcsby- 
terianism,  as  the  "more  excellent  way  "  of  taking  "care 
of  the  house  of  God,"  or,  as  more  "  agreeable  to  the  word 
of  God,  and  the  nature  and  reason  of  things."  Hence, 
says  Whiton,  "These  churches  have  since  become  Con- 
gregational." 

I  have  called  them  a  close  corporation,  for  they  resisted 
efforts,  whieii  were  made  to  bring  them  into  Prcvsbyterial 
fellowship  and  Synodical  harmony. 


\m 


V:i 


m 


192 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


Letter  after  letter  was  Avritten  to  them,  but  these  elleitccl 
no  perinanent  respons*-  which  has  come  down  to  us,  and, 
"at  a  meetiiitr  of  the  Presl)yter3'  of  the  Eastward  at  Deny, 
Sei)t('inber  l.'Jth,  178"),''  we  have  it  tliiis: 

"Tiie  Prcsln'tery,  sensildc  thai  a  ureat  part  of  tlio 
strenjith  and  beauty  of  Zion  consists  in  love  and  union 
amonsji;  the  churches  and  ministers  of  our  common  Lord, 
lias  long  lamented  the  divisions  and  animosities  wliich 
have  defaced  tiie  comeliness  of  the  l'rcsl)yterian  church  in 
this  country,  and  impaired  their  jjowcrs  of  resisting  tlie 
enemies  of  the  truth  around."  "Comforted  with  the  in- 
formation that  the  Lord  has  irioved  the  hearts  of  a  num- 
ber of  our  brethren  in  the  ministry,  in  the  interior  parts 
of  this  State,  to  unite  together  in  seelcing  tlie  good  of  liis 
Israel  by  reviving  the  ancient  and  Scri])tural  form  of  gov- 
ernment in  his  church  ;  that  they  have  formed  themselves 
into  a  regular  ecclesiastical  judicatory,  ])y  the  name  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Grafton,  and  continue  to  walk  together  in 
the  order  and  ordinances  of  the  gospel." 

"Tins  Presbytery  rejoice  to  take  tlie  earliest  opportunity 
of  o})ening  a  friendly  correspondence  with  them,  and  offer- 
ing to  them  the  right  hand  of  fellowshii),  and  for  tliat  end 
they  did  and  hereby  do  conmiission  and  appoint  tlie  Kov. 
John  Murray,  a  worthy  and  beloved  mem]>er  of  tliis  body, 
to  be  their  commissioner  and  re]n'esentative  at  the  said 
Presbytery  of  Grafton  ;  willing  and  re([uiring  him  to  rejjair 
thereto,  to  present  to  that  Rev.  Judicatory  the  letter  now 
delivered  to  his  care  from  us ;  also  to  lay  before  them  a 
copy  of  the  eonstitution  of  this  Presbytery  and  of  our  pub- 
lic testimony  against  errors ;  to  request  their  concurrence 
therein,  or  in  some  other  })ublic  testimony  for  the  truth  as 
it  is  in  Jesus ;  to  solicit  their  counsel  and  advice  in  what 
further  steps  are  necessary  to  be  taken  for  the  su})pressi()U 
of  error  and  vice,  for  the  reformation  of  what  remains 
amiss,  and  for  the  revival  of  vital  religion  among  us,  and 
especially  to  concert  with  them  some  measures  for  iirovid- 
ing  a  supply  of  regular  and  qualified  preachers  for  our 
numerous  vacancies,  and  for  ])reventing  the  intrusion  of 
such  as  are  not  so,  and  in  general  to  consult  and  transact 
with  that  body  in  our  name  whatever  may  conduce  to  the 
peace  and  order  of  the  churches,  and  to  the  estaldishmcnt 
of  visible  union  and  harmony  among  Presbyterians,  agrcea- 


IN   NEW  ENGLAND. 


193 


ligrcea- 


ble  to  the  word  of  God  and  tlie  constitution  of  this  Pres- 
bytery, and  rei)ort  liis  duinL's  to  us  at  our  next  nieetinpf. 
"Signed  by  order,  "  Wm.  I^vvidsox,  Moderator." 

Sonic  years  expired  belbrc  tliis  or  these  attempts  at 
iniidu  torniinated. 

Wt"  now  trace  some  of  the  transactions  of  said  Synod 
AvliiK'  it  existed. 

Tiicy  often  liad  cases  of  reference  from  tlie  lowe»*  courts, 
and  at  some  oi'  their  annual  meetinirs  their  sessions  were 
protracted  for  days.  They  have  not,  however,  transmitted 
to  us  clear  records  of  their  transactions,  for  at  tlie  same 
meeting  in  October,  177S,  wlien  Mr.  Houston  was  found 
deluKiuent.  it  is  said,  ''And  as  Bedford  was  annexed  to  the 
Kingston  (possibly  tlie  Salem,  if  not,  it  was  the  Palmer) 
Preshytery,  till  they  should  be  alile  to  stand  by  themselves, 
which  they  now  are,  therefore  this  Synod  now  dissolve  that 
relation  and  annex  said  Bedford  congregation  and  Mr. 
Houston  to  the  Presbytery  of  Londond(^rry,  and  appoint 
that  Presbyt(n'y  to  take  cognizance  of  any  alfairs  that  may 
roHipect  Mr.  Houston,  and  if  they  need,  to  call  in  one  or 
two  neighboring  Presbyteries  to  their  assistance." 

Windham,  Septeml)er  loth,  1779,  met  and  after  "ser- 
iiiou  constituted  with  prayer."  Present — Whittaker,  Bald- 
win, Houston,  Strickland  and  Williams.  Absent — Perley, 
McLean,  Urquhart,  (lilmorc,  Hutchcson,  Taggart,  Merrill 
and  Balch.  Perley,  Palch  nnd  Taggart's  excuses  sustained. 
'"Strickland  and  Williams  reported  that  Houston  brouglit 
from  the  State  of  New^  Hampshire  a  testimonial  satisfac- 
tory, and  Synod  now  restored  him  to  full  standing."  The 
Synod,  while  they  acquitted  Elder  (libson  of  Nottinghan), 
west,  of  removing  his  neighbor's  landmark,  with  which  lie 
had  been  charged  by  Asa  Davies,  Esq.,  admonish  him  for 
threatening  to  do  so,  and  restored  him  to  his  privileg(.'s. 

At  Nottingham,  September  13th,  1780,  six  present,  live 
ministers  absent,  six  elders  present.  As  the  Presbytery 
of  Grafton  did  not  receive  the  letter  of  Synod  in  time,  so 
from  them  tliere  is  no  reply. 

As  the  civil  coiu't  had  lately  confined  the  families  in 

each  parish  to  their  own  bounds,  the  "Synod  judge  that 

members  in  the  East  Parish  of  Londonderry,  belonging  to 

the  Western  congregation,  have  right  to  act  with  them 

13 


M 


{i 


imnii 


194 


HISTORY   OF   TRKSBYTERIANISM 


still  in  all  orclosiastical  afTairs  as  fully  as  before,  even 
thou^jh  tlu.'y  continuo  to  pay  loi*  the  support  of  thu  minis- 
ter of  tlieir  own  parisli  only." 

This  was  their  deliverance  on  "the  aj)j)eal  of  the 
RfrirrieviMl  lUfMiihcrs  ol"th(»  eoiiL'refration  formerly  hcloiiLMUi^ 
to  tlie  IJev.  David  Me(ir(';^'ore/'  "and  I'urther,  tliat  at;  there 
are  a  numl)er  of  the  Western  Parisli  who  eannot  conve- 
niently attend  at  tiie  Western  meetinL^-iiouse  constantly, 
in  ord(;r  to  accommodate  them,  we  judtre  that  tliey  ou^dit 
to  be  allowed  at  the  old  house  one  tSal)hath  in  ei<iht  of  all 
the  j)reachinn;  that '  liall  be  in  said  West  Parisli,  and  one 
sacrament  in  four,  and  also  occasional  lectures,  till  circum- 
stances shall  l)e  altered." 

The  session  of  Nottin<i;ham  West  had  condemned  Rich- 
ard Cutler  for  intemperance ;  he  had  appealed  to  the  Pres- 
bytery, and  on  the  case  now  referred  to  them  "  the  Synod 
confirm  the  sentence  of  the  session,  require  him  to  submit 
to  the  admonition  of  the  moderator;  that  he  did  and  was 
restored." 

At  Pelham  the  Rev.  Mr.  Merrill  had  been  laboring.  A 
large  majority  desired  to  call  and  settle  him,  and  to  ])acify 
"a  number  still  averse  thereto,"  the  majority  concluded  to 
support  him  '*  by  subscription,"  not  by  a  town  tax,  "  so  that 
the  dissatisfied  may  not  comj)lain  of  ojipression."  Oil 
their  behalf  "Rev.  Mr.  Merrill  and  Elder  David  (iray  de- 
sired advice  as  to  his  continuance."  They  do  "  not  advise 
a  permanent  settlement  only  from  year  to  year,  or  for  a 
longer  i)eriod,  and  to  have  their  children  baptized  by  other 
ministers  of  our  own,  and,  if  they  think  best,  have  certili- 
cates  of  standing  given  to  them  when  they  apply  to  any 
other  minister  of  this  Synod  for  special  ordinances." 

A  case  of  ajipeal  from  a  session,  even  when  sanctioned 
by  the  Presbytery,  was  now  reversed,  the  individual  ac- 
(piitted  and  restored  to  fellowship.  Other  cases  of  ai)i)eid 
from  the  lower  courts  they  settle  with  discrimination,  and 
the  accused,  in  the  spirit  of  meekness,  submitted  to  dis- 
cipline. 

Londonderry,  second  Wednesday  of  September,  1781, 
Synod  met.  Present — Rev.  Messrs.  Whittaker,  Baldwin, 
Houston,  Williams,  Strickland  and  Taggart,  with  elders 
from  Derry,  Salem,  Jiedford,  Windham,  Pembroke,  Pel- 
ham  and  Coleraine.  Absent — Merrill,  Gilmore  and  Balch. 
Excused — McLean  and  Urquhart,  for  reasons  given. 


IN   NEW   ENGLAND. 


195 


"Tlio  Synod  worn  favored  witli  a  oonforonco  with  tlic 
Kov.  Messrs.  Annan,  relative  to  a  union  witli  their  l)ody, 
iind  ;j;reatly  rejoiee  at  the  motion  they  have  niacU?  and  at 
the  L'reat  harniony  of  sentiments,  hoth  as  to  doctrine  and 
(hs(i|)lin(\  which  exists  hctween  them  and  us.  Wo  feel 
wilHn;^  even  to  drop  our  l.'Uh  artich^  and  alter  our  1  Itli  to 
coineido  with  their  sentiments,  but  decision  is  deferred  to 
the  next  meeting'." 

As  when  the  declinature  was  taken  by  the  Boston  con- 
gregation on  September  2()th,  177-1,  some  thirty  persons  did 
not  join  in  it  and  continued  their  connection  with  tlio 
I'.oston  Presl)yt(^ry,  now  the  Synod ;  so,  on  ^hiy  loth, 
17<^2,  the  Synod  met  pro  re  luthi  in  Boston  (as  we  will  see), 
on  September  11th,  17.S2  (stated  by  the  Rev.  Simon  Wil- 
liams). An  item  of  business  there  was  the  case  of  tho 
Ivcv.  Nathaniel  ^lerrill,  char^cMl  with  j^'cttinf;  his  wife, 
through  dec(nt,  to  sign  two  instruments,  and  who  had 
made  gross  charges  against  her.  "  II(!  had  disturbed  the 
peace  of  the  Presl  'tcry  and  ])ut  Presbyterianism  as  well 
us  Christianity  to  ;.•.  open  shame." 

Tho  Rev.  Mos«.o  iialdwin,  who  "exhibited  tho  charges 
against  Mr.  Merrill,  not  being  ])rescnt,  the  Synod  proceeileil 
ex  ojficio.^^  "Rev.  S.  Williams  })rotested  against  our  pro- 
cce(ling  at  present  and  withdrew." 

"The  S^'nod  sent  a  letter  to  him  desiring  him  to  deliver 
up  the  papers  of  the  two  last  sessions  and  received  a  re- 
fusal in  writing." 

"  ^lerrill  acknowdedged  tho  fact  charged,  denied  the  de- 
ceit, made  confessions  and  retractions  of  his  statements 
about  his  wife  and  family,  asked  fo^Hveness  of  his  wife, 
of  God,  the  public,  and  of  the  Syr.  '  oigned  his  written 
retraction,"  and  "  They  admonished  him  to  greater  circum- 
spection, relying  on  Divine  grace,  and  recommended  him 
to  the  churches."  ^Ir.  Houston  desired  it  may  be  added, 
"That  this  may  be  open  to  a  revision  at  the  stated  meet- 
ing." 
Londonderry,  September  11th,  1782,  Synod  met. 
Present,  seven  ministers  witli  five  elders.  Absent,  five. 
Rev.  Simon  Williams,  upon  the  electing  of  the  clerk,  with- 
drew, saying,  he  would  have  no  more  to  do  Avith  that 
body ;  retained  the  papers  of  Synod ;  offered  to  read  a 
paper  containing  his  declinature,  which  was  laid  on  the 


it 


ili'4 


i\ 

it- 
j 
i 


J 


1 


■■■m 


106 


UISTOUY   OF   rUESIJYTKUIAXISM 


fJ 


ill" 


table,  and  afterwards  read  by  tbo  moderator.  Witli  bim, 
united  bis  elder  IVoiu  W'iudbani,  Jobu  l^iiismorc,  JJcnja- 
niin  .Siiiitb,  I'Jlder  ofJiedl'ord,  and  James  Robertson,  Elder 
from  l*('nI)r()ok.  'J'bey  (jxprcss  nv'n'i'  and  trouble  at  wliat 
tiiey  Jiad  that  di'.y  beard  in  Synod,  viz.: 

1st.  Ill  reeeivin^i' tbo  llev.  Solomon  I'crley,  settled  under 
Ibe  Conj^regational  discaplinc,  as  a  lej^al  member  ol'  your 
l)ody. 

2d.  In  not  allowinfi;  tbo  elders  of  vacant  conjxre^ations 
to  vote  in  (Jioosin;^  tbo  moderator  and  clerk.  Dr.  W'bil- 
takcr  called,  and  you  attended  a  meetinjf  in  lioston,  wbicb 
was"  a  direct  violation  of  tbe  .'>d  article  of  our  constitution," 
wbicb  says,  "Ai)pea]s  aiul  references  from  sessions  to  Pres- 
byteries, and  from  Presbytery  to  tbe  Synod,  and  no  link 
of  tbis  chain  of  subordination  shall  be  overleaped,  or  this 
order  invertiid," 

<k\.  The  Synod  at  a  previous  session  decbired,  that 
"from  tbe  re[)resentation  of  the  Jlev.  Moses  P>aldwin  re- 
speetinn;  the  Rev.  Mr.  Merrill,  they  would  take  no  notice 
of  his  affairs  until  bo  would,  according  to  order,  clear  his 
character  with  his  own  Presbytery," 

In  tbis  Mr.  Williams  maintained,  that  "order"  was 
"heaven's  first  law,"  and  in  ignoring  tbe  Presbytery,  its 
duties  and  privileges,  Synod  was  (at  least  api)arently) 
concentrating  ])ower  to  its  own  destruction. 

"  Not  being  able  to  concur,  nor  passively  to  submit,"  they 
say,  "  we  take  this  lawful  liberty  to  exonerate  our  own 
consciences,"  and  that  tbey  did  "  meekly,  quietly  and 
peaceably  withdran'." 

The  Synod  fouid  themselves  under  tbe  necessity  of 
proceeding  against  them.  As  tbe  Boston  Presbytery  (now 
the  Synod  of  New  England)  had  in  1769,  and  twice  in 
1774,  prohibited  the  ministers  of  tbe  churches  of  their 
body  from  holding  communion  witli  tbe  Rev.  John  Mur- 
ray of  Boothbay,  as  Williams  had  invited  bim  to  assist  at 
the  Lord's  Supper,  and  bad,  without  consulting  any  of  his 
brethren,  read  tlie  papers,  and  did  what  was  done  for  in- 
ducting said  Murray  at  Newburyport,  as  be  had  conducted 
himself  in  the  time  of  Synod  in  a  very  disorderly  way ;  as 
he  has  indulged  in  very  indecent  reflections  and  even 
mockeries  of  his  brethren  in  time  of  Synod,  and  has  shewn 
ungoverned,  sudden  passions,  contrary  to  the  express  com- 


ly) 
ley 


in 

^t  at 

f  his 

iu- 

cted 

as 

Icvou 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


197 


11 


mand  of  Clirist ;  that  ho  lias  induced  somo  ciders  to  nnito 
with  him,  and  for  several  other  reasons  reconh'd,  the  Synod, 
with  irrief  and  i-cinctanco,  di'('lar(>  the  said  Williams  ^Miilly 
of  contumacy,  schism  and  hypocrisy,  contrary  to  the  laws 
of  Christ  anil  the  peace  of  the  church. 

''Therefore,  we  do  suspend  said  Williams  from  his  ofTico 
as  a  minister  of  Christ,  and  from  all  eonnnunion  with  anv 
of  this  body,  till  he  shall  manifest  repentance  for  the  above 
olfences.  And  we  earnestly  beseech  him  and  the  ciders 
joining  with  him  to  consider  their  ways  and  humble  them- 
selves before  (Jod,  and  seek  ]>ar(lon  throujudi  the  blood  of 
Christ,  and  speedilv  heal  the  breach  which  they  have 
made  in  the  church,  and  we  will  not  cease  to  pray  for 
these  blessed  elfects  of  this  censure. 

"  Voted,  That  this  censure  be  subject  to  the  revisal  of 
the  next  meetinji;." 

These  brethren  were  allowed  till  the  first  day  of  Novem- 
ber next  to  manifest  their  repentance. 

"  Ordered,  that  a  letter  expressive  of  a  desire  of  union 
with  them  be  written  to  the  Associate  Presbytery  of  New 
York." 

The  Rev.  ^Ir.  Pcrlcy  was  directed  to  instruct  his  people 
in  Presbyterianism  "  and  lead  them  to  a  union  with  this 
body,  or  the  Presbytery  on  the  Connecticut  river." 

"  Whereas  the  Presbytery  of  Londonderry  have  dismissed 
the  congregation  of  the  West  Parish,  in  Londonderr}',  from 
their  Presbytery,  yet  the  Synod  judge  they  retain  their 
relation  to  this  Synod."* 

From  the  notices  given  and  extracts  taken  from  records, 
it  will  be  seen  that  Presbyterianism  hi  New  England  had 
passed  its  noonday,  and  that  its  tide  had  begun  to  ebb. 
Different  causes  conspired  to  produce  this  result.  The 
want  of  a  fund  for  the  aid  of  young  men  preparing  for  the 
ministry,  had  its  influence.  For  this,  the  hopes  of  ^lur- 
vay  and  others,  to  establish  a  Burse  at  Dartmouth,  were 
from  time  to  time  expressed.  But,  in  Avar  times,  with  a 
deep  commercial  depression  settled  on  the  land,  threaten- 
ing to  drive  the  ministry  from  their  ])ulpits,  and  but  a 

,  *The  Rev.  William  Davidson  and  his  congregation  joined  the  Pres- 
bytery at  tiie  Eastward  on  October  23d,  1781.  They  consequently  formed 
no  part  of  this  Synod. 


ilMi'i' 


^m 


198 


HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


limited  amount  of  pul)lic  spirit  developed  in  the  few  who 
had  means,  nothing  for  the  support  and  increase  of  Pres- 
byterianism  was  estal)nshed,  but  what  was  soon  assimilated 
to  its  surroundings,  especially  in  the  bounds  of  ''  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Connecticut  river." 

Another  cause  was  the  violent  tein]iers  of  not  a  few  of 
the  ministry.  Thus  to  one  it  was  said,  "Mr.  Moorehead, 
you  have  double  as  much  grace  as  any  other  one  of  us, 
but  you  have  not  half  enough  for  yourself."  And  we  have 
just  noticed  a  part  of  the  cliarges  of  a  hasty  spirit  and  a 
violent  temper,  but  too  truly  made  against  the  Rev.  Simon 
AV^illiams.  The  inmioralities  in  life  of  not  a  few  of  the 
ministers  consi)ired  to  the  same  end.  But  by  the  want  of  the 
stated  ordinances  of  the  gospel  in  many  cases,  and  by  the 
teaching  of  erroneous  doctrines  in  otliers,  "  pure  and  undo- 
liled  religion,"  during  this  quarter  of  a  century,  among 
Presbyterians  in  New  England,  "  gained  much  harm  and 
loss." 

In  many  towns  congregations  came  to  Presbyterianisra, 
Bomotimes  to  avoid  Jonathan  Edwards'  "  confused  way  of 
church  government  in  the  land,"  as  did  the  congregation 
of  Newburyport.  While  those  coming  from  the  British 
Isles  took  it  the  natural  way,  their  ])osterity  in  a  few  gen- 
erations, had  Presbyterianism  so  mild  that  it  ran  out  of 
their  systems.  They  did  not  "  take  heed  to  the  doctrine  " 
''  sealed  by  the  blood  of  the  covenant,"  and  in  not  a  few 
cases,  ceased  to  be  "valiant  for  the  truth  in  the  earth." 

In  some  towns  "  the  earth  helped  the  woman,"  and  men 
must  honor  the  church  of  the  Parish,  if  not  the  Lord,  with 
tiieir  substance,  or  be  cast  into  prison  as  Avere  those  two 
of  Chester,  N.  H.  Upon  the  churches,  as  well  as  the  other 
interests  of  the  connnunity,  tlie  war  produced  deleterious 
etlects  in  lowering  the  standard  of  morality  and  giving  in- 
creasing vitality  to  crime. 

The  main  conflict  was,  however,  partly  between  the  dis- 
similarity of  the  races  in  juxta  position  as  this  was  moulded 
and  iniluenced  by  the  form  of  church  government  and  by 
worship. 

As  Christ  executes  his  kingly  ofTico,  not  onl}'  by  subdu- 
ing his  people  to  himself,  but  by  ruling  them,  so,  where 
men  view  the  Bible  as  simply  adequately  inspired,  and 
not  plenarily  nor  verbally,  it  is  not  a  difficult  process  to 


iJ^  i 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


199 


cliniinato  (from  it)  ordination  "by  tho  layinpf  on  of  the 
hands  of  tlie  Presbytery  "  and  all  that  is  peculiar  to  that 
species  of  churcli  polity.  Hence,  so  lonp;  as  ''  the  church 
of  tlie  Parish  "'  was  maintained  by  the  sword  of  the  civil 
p(>wer,  cornp(>lling  all  within  its  ])rescribed  limits  to  sup- 
jtort  the  minister  of  the  town,  and  if  they  were  of  a  differ- 
ent persuasion,  forcing;  them  in  addition,  to  sup])ort  their 
own  ministry,  large  inducements  were  extended,  in  almost 
all  cases,  to  Presbyterians  in  New  England,  to  conform  to 
tlieir  surrouncHngs.  A  large  source  of  change,  conspiring 
to  the  enfeebling  of  Presl)vterianism  in  these  bounds,  also 
iiH  reasingly  flowed  from  the  influence  of  the  local  system 
on  domestic  life  and  tlie  social  relations. 

"  Let  the  wife  see  that  she  reverence  her  husband  "  (Eph. 
V.  8.3),  when  viewed  as  only  adequately  insi)ired,  is  not 
friendly  to  the  rule  of  elders  in  a  church,  nor  to  the  sj'S- 
tem,  the  very  existence  of  which  implies  it. 

The  idea  of  honoring  "the  faces  of  the  elders,"  when  col- 
lated with,  "  let  your  women  keep  silence  in  tlie  clmrches  " 
iind  levelled  to  adequate  inspiration,  has  seldom  a  very 
salutary  influence  on  that  oneness  which  constitutes  the 
iHiirriage  relation,  esi)ecially  where  a  believer  in  verbal  in- 
sjjiration  "  renders  to  the  wife  due  benevolence,"  and  "  so 
loves  his  wife  even  as  himself."  It  requires  plenary  and 
verbal  inspiration  to  make  "  the  weaker  vessel  "  realize  the 
moaning  of  husband,  that  is  "  housel)and,  tb.e  band  and 
bond  of  the  house,  who  shall  bind  and  hold  it  tooether." 
We  have  seen  this  illustrated  in  the  case  of  jMrs.  Colonel 
Pxc'id,  "All  this  with  your  advice,  not  otherwise."  (Letter 
to  him,  September  8th,  1776.) 

It  must  be  remembered  tliat  these  statements  are  made 
in  reference  to  the  causes  then  commencing  operation,  for, 
until  after  the  Revolutionary  war,  the  New  Englanders 
were  Puritans  and  believed  in  the  plenary  inspiration  of 
the  Scriptures  very  literally.  They  at  one  time  believed 
in  the  verbal  insi)iration  of  Ex.  xxii.  18,  "  Thou  shalt  not 
puffer  a  witch  to  live,"  but,  when  the  mind  recoiled  from 
this  too  literal  an  interpretation,  it  did  not  stop  at  the 
analogy  of  faith  and  ]>lenary  inspiration,  but  went  on  to 
the  perfection  of  mental  instability  and,  in  our  modern 
times,  rested  in  an  adequacy  of  the  supernatural,  or  in 
sentiment,  or  in  mere  opinion,  taste  or  feeling. 


200 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


• 


Hence,  "  I  will  not  believe  what  I  cannot  understand," 
has  become  at  times  a  practical  aphorism  with  some  of  the 
descendants  of  tlie  Puritans. 

Consequently,  where  faith  and  logic  of  such  diverse 
kindt'  were  found  in  father  and  mother,  the  chilch'on  would 
usually  take  the  course  which  led  to  "the  largest  liberty," 
the  easiest,  the  most  honorable  and  ])opular  form.  In 
doing  so,  they  were  not  always  required  l)y  "the  customs 
of  the  churches  "  "  to  sufi'er  affliction  with  the  people  of 
(iod." 

It  would  take  the  faith  and  logic  of  Moses  to  make  this 
choice.  ^ 

When  the  Pres])yterians  came  among  them  they  found 
the  New  Englanders  ahnost  universally  "  sound  in  the  laith 
of  God's  elect,"  and  pure  in  morals.  As  nnsanctiliod 
Imman  beings,  they  were  not  perfect  nor  free  from  sectarian 
rancor,  and  they  viewed  Quakers,  Anaba])tists,  Episco- 
palians, and  Presbyterians  as  intruders.  Still,  while  four- 
fifths  of  them  statedly  waited  on  God  in  public  worship 
in  all  seasons  of  the  year  (witli  rare  exceptions),  and  a 
man  under  oath  before  a  committee  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons (in  1G60)  could  declare  "  I  have  lived  seven  years  in 
New  England,  and  I  have  never  there  heard  a  profane  oath 
or  seen  a  drunken  man,"  the  calamities  and  immor  ilities 
of  war  a  century  afterwards  extensively  marred  this  T)ur- 
ity  and  simplicity  in  almost  a  single  generation. 

The  air  of  enthusiasm  introduced  by  breaking  the  fetters 
of  colonial  dependency  and  introducing  with  national  ex- 
istence national  liberty,  had  (not  ncK-essarily")  apparently 
an  extensive  tendency  to  throw  off  the  whok'sonic  re- 
straints of  superiors,  to  induce  the  young  to  forget  their 
position,  and  to  undermine  "the  things  which  are  true, 
pure,  lovely,  and  of  good  rcjiort."  Like  Jerusalem  in 
ruins,  "the  faces  of  the  ciders  were  no  longer  honored."' 
It  also  gave  ample  "  scope  and  verge "  to  theological 
thought,  as  it  was  imported  from  Continental  Europe, 
until  their  various  "  sehemes  "  su])p]anted  the  logic  and 
theology  of  the  New  England  Primer. 

These  and  other  co-o])erating  inilucnces  in  the  sam(^ 
direction  were  bursting  the  bud  during  the  sliort  years  of 
the  existence  of  the  Synod  of  New  England  ;  but  the  skill 
and  application  of  one  man  probably  surpassed  them  all. 


IN    NEW  ENGLAND. 


201 


The  Rev.  Isaac  Watts,  D.  D.,  the  guest  of  men  of  rank 
in  EnL^land,  not  only  Avrote  "  On  the  Improvement  of  the 
]\Iincl "  and  "  Lojj;ic "' — very  useful  works — but  also  set  forth 
tlic  belief  that  '"tlic  souls  of  the  ciiildren  of  unbelieving 
parents  dying  in  infancy  are  annihilated"  ( Buck''. s  Die.}, 
and  '■  that  the  first  thing  which  (iod  made  was  the  soul  of 
Jesus  Christ,  and  by  this  his  first  production  he  made  all 
things  else." 

This  fanciful  and  false  idea  wasby  Jona.  Edwards  (  Works) 
refuted  in  fourteen  prrticulars,  and  it  lies  harmlessly 
among  the  mental  lumber  which  has  been  consigned  "to 
the  moles  and  to  tlie  l),as."  Not  so  the  outgoings  of  the 
soul  of  the  doctor  in  poetry.  For  his  "  Cradle  Hymns," 
multitudes  would  have  remembered  his  name  with  pleasure 
if  he  had  sto])pev^  tliere,  but  of  the  liook  of  Psalms,  given 
by  God  the  Holy  ..ost,  he  undertot)k  to  imitate  139  '"in 
the  language  of  the  New  Testament,"  and  concerning  them 
declared,  "  1  would  like  to  see  David  turned  into  a  Chris- 
tian." 

The  nourishing  deep  roots  of  a  Christian  Church  are 
found  where  families  and  households  evening  and  morn- 
ing shew  forth  the  loving  kindness  of  the  Lord  in  sweet 
])salms,  and  from  their  childhood  youth  are  taught  to 
know  the  Scriptures;  where,  out  of  the  mouths  of  babes 
or  infants,  praise  is  given  to  God  beneath  the  parental 
roof.  Wiien  such  flow  together  to  the  heights  of  Zion,  her 
assoml)lies  are  blessed  with  times  of  refresliing. 

At  tiie  risk  of  intelligent  contradiction,  1  state  that  just 
in  ))ro]iortion  as  the  ])oetry  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Isaac  Watts  is 
introduced  into  any  church  or  by  any  denomination,  "the 
\-i)\re  of  joy  and  rejoicing  in  the  dwellings  of  the  righteous  " 
is  diminished.  His  '"  David  turned  into  a  (.Christian,"  even 
u lull  sujiplemented  by  the  skejitic,  Joel  Barlow,  and  sanc- 
tilied  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Timothy  Dwight,  is  not  adapted  to 
express  the  s])iritual  joy  of  ( Jod-loving  families,  who  abide 
under  tlie  shadow  of  tlie  Almighty,  in  shewing  forth  his 
loving  kindness  in  the  morning  and  declaring  to  Inm  his 
liiithfulness  every  night.  Th(\v  must  sing  i)salms  to  him 
with  grace  to  ex|)rt'ss  the  emotions  of  their  souls,  for  his 
command  is,  "is  any  merry?  I^et  him  sing  ])salms." 
And  assuredly,  if  his  fragments  of  the  psalter  imitated  in 
the  language  of  the  New  Testament  will  not  express  such 


III 


(  i 


202 


HISTORY   OP  PRESBYTERIANISM 


i 


licaven-born  joy,  his  hymrivS  for  the  use  of  "  vulgar  Chris- 
tians" will  not.  Not  any  one  of  thcni  is  a  portion  of  the 
living  and  incorruptible  seed  of  the  Word  -which  livcth 
and  ahideth  for  ever,  and  ''  what  is  the  chaif  to  the  wheat?" 
I  present  the  early  psalm-singing  New  England  in  contract 
with  the  present  as  irrefragable  proof,  "impugn  it  who 
lists."     80  Presbyterianism  there  has  found  it. 

This  innovation,  exchanging  a  reality — a  perfect  whole 
— for  an  imitation,  desolating  to  "the  truth  as  it  is  in 
Jesus,"  we  have  seen  was  o])posed  by  Coleman,  of  Brattle 
street,  Boston,  and  other  faithful  men,  but  in  vain.  For 
in  the  course  of  a  generation  or  two,  it  in  the  Congrega- 
tionalist  Churches  sup])lanted  "the  Bay  State  Version  of  the 
Psalms,"  silenced  the  Jehovah's  song  in  thousands  of  fam- 
ilies, and  finally  ])layed  the  whale  with  Jonah  with  the 
Presbyterian  version  almost  universally.  When  and 
wherever  "godliness"  existed  in  New  England,  its  vitality 
was  always  and  only  commensurate  witli  its  "  sound  doc- 
trine "  {alias  Calvinism),  and  tlie  daily  use  of  "those  glo- 
rious psalms  let  down  from  a  higher  plane  "  (Rev.  Joseph 
Cook). 

In  1774,  the  Rev.  Moses  Baldwin,  who  in  early  life  had 
been  trained  to  the  Imitations  and  Hymns,  became  (as  all 
religious  poetical  innovators  do)  a  "man  of  feeling."  lie 
had  "a  felt  want,"  and  he  not  only  obtained  liberty  to  in- 
dulge it,  but,  as  "  forljidden  fruit  is  sweet,"  his  exam})]c 
became  prevalent.  Among  those  congregations  whicii 
came  to  Presbyterianism  they  were  both  jmbulum  and 
condiment.  Into  most  of  the  churches  composing  the 
Presbyteries  and  the  Synod  they  Avere  s})eedily  introduced, 
and  the  new  tunes  required  for  tlie  enjoyment  of  them  did 
violence  to  the  feelings  of  many  of  the  aged. 

When  the  use  of  the  Imitations  became  general  among 
them,  "  Ichabod  "  was  written  as  frontlets  between  the  eyes 
of  Presbyterianism  in  New  England,  and  rottenness  had 
entered  into  its  bones.  Emigration  to  their  towns  had  (ex- 
tensively ceased,  and  their  youth  witnessed  with  diminish- 
ing inter(>st  the  abandonment  of  the  "sweet  ])salms  "  with 
winch  their  fathers  and  forefathers  had  caused  the  wilder- 
ness and  solitary  place  to  rejoice,  as  their  morning  and 
evening  songs  went  up  from  "the  dwellings  of  the  right- 
eous." 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


203 


There  is  something  magnanimous  in  contending  for  a 
just  cause  under  adverse  circumstances,  and  this  tlie  Synod 
of  New  JCngland,  so  long  as  its  diminished  lorccs  wore  the 
name,  earnestly  did.  Their  hounds  were  extensive — from 
Palmer,  ^hiss.,  to  Eastern  Maine — and  tlieir  disadvantages 
were  consequently  great.  They  could  not  at  any  time, 
owing  in  part  to  the  expenses,  during  the  seven  years'  war, 
connected  with  travelling  for  days  on  horseback,  oiten  in 
inclement  seasons,  over  bad  roads,  have  a  ])ertectly  full 
meeting.  From  time  to  time  their  roll  was  diminish(;d  by 
tiie  wrongdoing  of  some,  requiring  the  exercise  of  disci- 
pline, and  occasionally  among  tliem  there  "arose  men 
si)eaking  perverse  things,"  "  causing  contentions,"  and 
eventually  withdrawing  from  their  fellowship,  Tiiey  had 
also,  doubtless,  l)een  somewhat  disappointed  from  the  fail- 
ure of  the  anticipated  co-operation  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Grafton. 

While  carrying  on  their  watch  and  care  as  the  Boston 
Presbytery,  on  November  9th,  1774,  at  Newbury  port,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Hutchinson,  of  Pom  fret,  Vt.,  had  ])etitioned 
them  i probably  with  others  in  his  region)  "  with  regard  to 
the  forming  of  a  Presbytery  at  Dartmouth  College,"  founded 
by  Presbyterians,  and  then  five  years  old.  They  recom- 
mended to  him  j)rudence  in  his  exertions  in  the  ease,  and 
to  report  to  them;  but  "the  Presbytery  of  (Jrafton  "  or 
"  of  Connecticut  River"  (which,  on  October  21st,  1783, 
not  only  licensed  Mr.  Simon  F.  Williams,  but  excommu- 
nicated tlie  Rev.  Mr.  Burroughs)  stood  aloof  from  the 
Synod,  while  "  the  Presbytery  at  the  P^astward  "  formed 
extensively  an  ecclesiastical  asylum  for  the  troublers  of 
their  Israel. 

Conse(;[uently,  of  the  thirteen  ministers,  McCregore, 
Houston,  Mitchell,  Perley,  Strickland,  iMerrill,  Mcljcan, 
Urquhart,  Whittaker,  Balch,  Williams,  B.ddwin,  and  Tag- 
Uart,  with  six  ruling  elders  (while  Parsons,  Oilmore,  and 
Hutchinson  were  absent),  who  at  Seabrook,  on  June  2d, 
1775,  signed  their  constitution  as  a  Synod,  but  a  ))art  were 
present  at  their  last  meeting  at  Londnnderr}!  (  West  Parisli ) 
on  September  12th,  1782,  viz.,  Whittaker,  Houston,  Wil- 
liams, Strickland,  Taggart,  Merrill,  and  Perley,  with  five 
elders,  while  McLean,  Urquhart,  Balch,  and  Baldwin  were 
absent.    At  this  meeting,  Williams  (with  the  elders  from 


!    ' 


Ifi!l 


204 


HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


I/'  , 


Windham,  Bedford,  and  Pembrook)  -withdrew,  and,  as 
stated,  ho  was  suspended. 

The  varied  causes  which  have  been  noticed,  and  proba- 
bly others,  were  all  consi)irin^  to  prevent  the  growth  of 
l)nre  Presbytcrianisni,  and  whether  understanding  denomi- 
nationally or  not,  the  iniluenees  brought  to  bear  upon 
tiieni,  they  I'eli  the  reality.  They  "  knew  that  the  heavens 
do  rule,"  and  instead  of  endeavor'  ig  further  to  uphold, 
that  on  wliich  their  ]ie;irts  were  sc .  at  their  organization, 
they  submitted  to  the  developments  of  the  Divine  pleasure. 
On  September  11th  they  record:  "The  Synod  taking  into 
consideration  the  broken  circumstances  to  which  the  Provi- 
dence of  God  hath  brought  us  by  the  death  of  several  of 
our  members  and  otherwise ;  therefore,  we  judge  it  neces- 
sary to  dissolve  this  Synod  for  the  present,  and  form  a 
Presbytery  of  the  whole,  by  the  name  of  the  Presbytery 
of  Salem. 

"  Voted,  That  a  committee  be  appointed  to  wait  on  tlie 
Grafton  Presbytery,  in  order  to  open  the  way  to  form  a 
union  with  them,  in  some  manner  that  may  be  for  mutual 
advantage."  Dr.  Whittaker  was  appointed.  Then  came 
the  fact,  solemn,  indeed,  to  those  whose  "  hearts  trembled 
for  the  ark  of  God,"  for  on  September  12th,  1782,  the 
record  reads : 

"  The  Synod  being  this  day  dissolved  by  an  uiianimous 
vote,  the  members  convened  at  the  house  of  Elder  Fisher 
in  order  to  form  themselves  into  a  Presbytery." 

Nature  produces  maturity  in  the  animal  and  vegetable 
kingdoms,  which  by  inevitable  law  is  succeeded  by  decay. 
Empires  and  renowned  cities  have  their  growth,  their 
grandeur  and  dilapidation,  and  Presbyterianism  in  New 
England  did  not  escape  the  common  doom.  Between 
1768  and  1793  this  polity  was  extensively  si)read  in  this 
region  where  all  its  surroundings  were  hostile  to  its  ex- 
istence. 

In  the  following-named  places,  as  well  as  probably  some 
others,  especially  in  Connecticut,  it  was  for  a  time  planted, 
viz. :  Boston,  Derry,  Londonderry,  Worcester,  Cli ester, 
Palmer,  Oxford,  Porpooduc  on  Casco  Bay,  Oakliam, 
Blandford,  Pelham,  Newburyport,  Salem,  Saybrook,  Pem- 
broke, Windham,  Gofistown,  Bedford,  Kingston,  Coleraine, 
Easton,  Lunenburg,  Peterboro,  Rutland,  Paxton,  Boscawen, 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


205 


Princeton,  Groonwieli,  Groton,  Candia,  Antrim,  Deer  Isl- 
and, New  Boston,  I)un))arton,  Greeniield,  Litchfield,  Not- 
tinjiluun,  Canterbury,  New  CUoucester,  Canaan,  Sylvester, 
Topshani,  Turner,  Francestown,  Gray,  Winthrop,  Machias, 
Lincoln,  Anieshury,  Boothl)ay,  Jiristol,  Brunswick,  liellast, 
Pownalboro,  Warren  and  St.  (n'oriics,  Voluntown,  Daniar- 
iscotta.  New  Market,  Falmouth,  Hanover,  Fast  Hanover, 
Lyme,  Croyden,  Ortord,  Piermcjnt,  N.  IL,  Norwich,  Hart- 
ford, Fairlee,  Uoyalton,  Tunhridge,  Randolph,  Tlietford, 
Iku'nard,  Newbury,  Topsliam,  Pomt'ret  and  ])erha])S  otlier 
towns  in  Vermont;  ai)art  h'om  Gral'tsburv,  Barnet,  Rye- 
gate  and  South  Rycirnte,  which  may  be  afterwards  noticed. 

In  but  a  few  of  these  (above  seventy)  places  was  it  fairly 
planted.  In  many,  perhaps  in  most  cases,  Edwards'  "  un- 
settled and  confused  way  "  induced  not  a  few  towns  to 
give  to  this  new  thing  a  trial,  as  w.'is  done  in  Newburyport 
and  Easton.  Beside  this,  while  the  form  of  government 
might  be  ap]»roximated,  the  doctrine.^  extensively  main- 
tained and  discipline  executed,  the  great  difficulty  was  in 
and  with  the  worship. 

One  class  of  Presbyterians,  maintaining  that  all  scrip- 
ture is  plenarily  inspired,  found  their  matter  of  praise  ex- 
clusively in  the  Psalter.  This  was  the  case  not  only  with 
the  Scotch-Irish  but  with  the  French.  They  used  it  only, 
and  to  their  metrical  version  they  had  to  every  line  musi- 
cal notes  placed.  Not  so  the  New  Englanders.  In  some 
cases  they  might  have  brought  with  them  the  Bay  State 
version,  but,  during  this  period,  they  seem  to  have  used 
only  the  139  psalms  "  imitated,"  together  with  the  Doctor's 
three  books  of  hynms.  In  such  cases,  while  order  might 
have  been  more  extensively  kept  by  the  use  of  Presbyte- 
rial  forms  and  faithful  pastors  and  elders  encouraged  and 
sustained,  yet  the  overshadowing  wings  of  the  civil  power 
made  the  sustenance  of  the  ministry  more  secure,  hence 
they  easily  appealed  to  Caesar.  In  all  but  a  very  few  cases 
the  "  loaves  and  fishes  "  of  Presbyterianism  were  but  small 
and  somewhat  uncertain.  Hence,  INIcKinsiry,  Keith,  Hill- 
house  and  others  of  that  generation,  while  indebted  to 
Presbyterianism  for  their  moral  worth,  were  sustained  as 
Congregational  teachers  by  civil  law.  And  while  we  have 
seen  McGregor,  Taggart  and  Brown  of  the  next  generation 
supported  in  the  same  way  as  ministers  of  towns,  still,  to 


206 


HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


younc:  nnd  aspirinp;  nativos,  it  was  n(»t  ahvays  desirable  to 
risk  the  truthfulness  of  the  blaster,  that  "  the  lah(M'(,'r  is 
worthy  of  his  hir(\"  Ilenee,  we  fnid  not  only  MeKecu 
leavintjj,  but  the  two  sons  of  the  Rev.  Simon  ^Villiunls  of 
Windham,  after  obtainin<2;  aid  from  Presbyterian  eliurelus 
as  Bursars  at  Dartmouth  College,  entering  deelinatures  to 
Presbyterial  authority  and  becoming  Congregationalist 
l)r(;achers. 

In  all  tliis,  hoAvever,  we  have  the  collapse  of  the  Synod 
of  New  .P]ngland,  after  a  life  of  seven  years  and  three 
months,  and  "a  nation"  must  be  found  to  "change  tlieir 
gods"  before  another  comes  into  existence  in  tlie  same 
territorial  bounds. 


IN    NEW   ENGLAND. 


207 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

17G8- 1793— Presbytery  of  Snlcin— Rev.  R.  Annan— Rov.  Mr.  Morrill— 
(jniltoii  Prtsljytcry  — -(Jroton  —  (iiari^os  uiit'oinxlc'd  — Ta},'t,Mrt— His 
ovcrtiirfs — Milliinore  "  our  camlidati.' " — No  pn)L,'ress  in  nnioii  ytt — 
(jlroton  received — To  be  cautions  in  n'eeivin>,'  members,  unless  I'res- 
byterianH — Wliittai<er  slandered — A  diliienlty  between  McLean  and 
Unjiiliart  al)oiit  Uniiibart's  wives — liesult — Wbiltaker  and  a  ('on<,n-e- 
gational  Couiicil — ('barges  refuted  in  1771 — l)r.  Wbittiiker  exliorled 
to  a  scarcb  wliile  be  is  a  wortiiy  minister — Merrill  from  bad  to  worsu 
— McLean  dismissed — (tray — Notes  of  tbo  cluncb  and  of  tlie  town — 
Five,  wbo  call  tliomsclves  Baptists,  dissent — Dr.  Wbittaker  dismissed 
— Settled  in  ('anaan,  .Nhiine,  1784 — New  towns  apply — Si/!vckIci'  set- 
tles Strickland,  1781— (£50)— Creditable  to  botb  parties— A  bearty 
wisb — To  ask  an  "  Incorporation" — An  exbortation — I'resbytery  now 
in  tbe  luunor — Uniformity  recommended — Lnion  River  received — ■ 
>SV;i^  (//e— Called  meeting  at  Turner — I'rqidiart  deceives — Perley  of 
Gray  a!)sent— ("ongregation  not  bospital)le  to  Presbytery — Expedi- 
ency— Minutes  defective — Williams  cut  off — Merrill  deposed — (ieorge 
Oilmore  long  absent  is  dropi)ed — Final  meeting  of  Presbytery  at  (iray 
— 1791 — Perley  to  be  dismissed  from  (Jray — Adjourned  Sine  die — We 
have  seen  development,  growtb,  vitality  and  decay  of  tlie  Boston 
Presbytery,  the  Synod,  etc. — We  now  turn  to  the  Presbytery  at  tlie 
Eastward. 

We  turn  now  to  tlie  Presbytery  of  Salem.  It  was  formed 
in  tli(!  house  of  Elder  Fisher,  at  Londonderry,  N,  IL,  on 
8L'i)t(inl)er  Pith,  ITS'i,  and  eonsisted  of  Rev.  Messrs.  Whit- 
taker,  Houston,  Strickland,  Perley,  Tajigart,  ]\[errill,  with 
KuHn^-  Elders  Thomas  ]\[cGee,  Ilnhbard  and  Oliver.  The 
next  re(^orded  meeting  was  held  at  Salem,  on  Sejitemher 
loth,  1783,  when  four  ministers  were  present  and  seven 
were  absent. 

As  ]Mr.  Williams  did  not  appear  his  suspension  Avas  con- 
tiniKHl.  lie  and  the  elders  who  Joined  with  "  him  in  his 
deelinature,"  were  cited  again.  An  answer  to  a  letter  pre- 
viously written  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Clarke,  of  Salem,  N.  Y., 
was  then  read,  "  expressing  a  desire  of  said  union  and  an 
engagement  to  lay  the  matter  before  their  body  (the  Asso- 


!  1: 


lli 


208 


HISTORY  OF   PRKSnYTERIANISM 


ciatc  Reformed  Presbytery  of  New  York)  at  their  next 
meeting,'."  "A  reply  was  now  ordered  to  l)e  sriit  tlirou-li 
tli(.'  liev.  Kohcrt  Aunau  of  IJoston."  The  Kcv.  Mr.  Mi  rrill 
heinti;  ehar;i('(l  with  crime  now  i'aiicd  to  apprar. 

Dr.  W'hittalxcr  was  diri^eted  to  eontinne  his  eorrespond- 
enee  with  the  (crafton  Preshytery.  (.'oinniissioners  a|»- 
])eare(l  from  a  so(;iety  in  (Iroton  a.^kinu;  to  he  recciNcd,  hut 
Preshytery  ascertained  that  said  associated  jxTsoiis  were 
\mder  censure,  and  lliat  tlie  Coniireuationalist  eliurch  to 
Avincii  tiiey  hclon;i<,'d  laid  refused  tliem  a  copy  of  said  eeu- 
i^UYQ.  Tiiis  procedure  was  (hcmed  unjust  and  tyranni(!al. 
]*resbytery  received  tliem  and  i-ecpiested  "said  church  to 
give  all  the  li;:;ht  they  can  in  the  all'air." 

The  Ivev.  Jno.  I'njuliart  i)resented  severe  charges  against 
"tlic  i)eople  of  Warren  and  St.  (icrges  lower  jilantatiou," 
and  desired  a  dismission  from  his  charge.  Preshytery 
<lealt  with  them,  and  investigated  the  charges  which  they 
])referred  against  him,  which,  after  the  investigation,  were 
considered  unfounded. 

The  Rev.  8amuel  Taggart  hy  letter  now  informed  the 
Presbytery  that  "  he  had  made  overtures  to  the  Assoeiatii 
Reformed  Presbytery  of  New  York  for  a  junction  with 
them  as  far  as  may  be  without  a  dismission  from  this 
body."  This  step  was  deemed  to  he  "irregular  and  un- 
])resbyterial,"  as  he  had  not  previously  informed  them,  and 
as  this  Presbytery  were  now  "endeavoring  a  union  with 
the  same  body."  So  be  lias  pn judged  the  matter,  and 
they  ordered  liim  to  appear  liefore  them  at  their  next  meet- 
ing to  give  satisfaction.  A  Mr.  ]\liltimore  now  api)ears  as 
"  our  candidate." 

Groton,  June  9tb,  1784.  Presbytery  met.  Present,  seven 
ministers,  with  two  elders;  absent,  four,  with  "their  el- 
ders." 

No  answer  liad  been  received  to  the  letter  written  to  the 
Rev.  Robert  Annan  resi)ecting  union;  nor  had  any  been 
received  from  the  Grafton  Presbyt(M'y,  to  whom  Dr.  A\'hit- 
taker  had  written.  On  receipt  of  letteis  iVoin  Mr.  Tagj^art 
and  the  A.  R.  Presbytery,  they  are  to  be  informed  that 
while  "  Ave  are  willing  to  hold  Christian  correspondence 
and  communion  with  them,  it  appears  to  be  somewhat  ir- 
regular to  dismiss  Mr.  Taggart  under  present  circum- 
stances; therefore  we  must  wait  for  further  light."    They 


IN    NEW    ENGLAND. 


209 


ask  also  "  to  liavo  their  continued  a])plication  for  union 
])iTs;onte(l  before  the  A.  R.  Synod  lor  their  judfj^ment." 

Upon  thi!  spot,  they  found  that  while  it  was  represented 
that  the  whole  soeiety  in  (Iroton  applying'  for  admission 
to  tlic  Presbyterian  ])('rsuasion  were  under  the  censure  of 
the  Congregational  Chureh,  that  ''only  three  of  said  per- 
sons were  so  at  that  time."  As  to  the  three,  the  churcii 
would  give  no  ''light  on  the  subject"  as  to  the  grounds  of 
their  censure,  excepting  that  "  they  had  used  their  Chris- 
tian lil)erty  in  joining  said  society,"  and  ''after  mature 
consideration  they  were  received  as  a  regular  Presbyterian 
station."  "After  care/'ul  and  judicious  investigation,  they 
state,  they  ought  to  be  considered  to  be  in  good  standing 
in  the  Church  of  Christ."  A  caution  was  then  given  to 
thcin  as  a  society  "to  cultivate  harmony  with  our  Congre- 
gational brethren;  to  be  cautious  in  receiving  any  mem- 
bers, unless  to  occasional  connnunion,  who  are  not  of  the 
Presbyterian  persuasion  ;  and  espeeially  to  reject  all  whoso 
moral  chanicter  is  such  :is  to  bring  discredit  on  religion  in 
general  or  to  the  Presbyterian  interest  in  particular."  A 
copy  of  this  minute  was  ordered  to  be  served  on  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Chaplin,  minister  of  the  town. 

As  Dr.  \\'hittaker  A-as  now  walking  in  trouble  arising 
from  slanders,  his  cubC  at  this  time  received  an  extensive 
investigation,  the  results  of  which  were  favorable  to  his 
Christian  standing.  In  the  meantime,  Presbytery  "called 
upon  all  who  iiuve  reported  scandalous  stories  respecting 
him  to  give  regular  and  authentic  testimony  of  his  im- 
moral behavior  to  the  Presbytery,"  at  a  time  and  place 
then  a|)])ointed. 

The  ^loderator  was  now  ordered  to  exhort  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Merrill  to  watchfulness  in  his  conduct  for  the  future. 

At  this  meeting  at  Groton,  June  lltli,  1784,  a  letter 
which  Dr.  Whittaker  wrote  to  the  Rev.  R.  Annan  was  read, 
as  was  also  their  niinut(\  jjrcvioush'  noticed,  respecting  the 
dismission  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Taggart  while  negotiations  for 
'ti  union  of  the  two  bodies  was  jiending;  and  they  conclude 
the  matter  at  this  time  by  expn^ssions  of  good-will  and  an 
earnest  desire  for  a  union  with  the  Associate  Reformed 
Presbytery  of  New  York.  This  Presbytery  has  also  a  New 
England  history,  which  will  in  due  time  appear. 

Another  matter  then  received  official  attention.  It  was 
14 


iitH 


ti 


ff^ 


210 


HISTORY  OP  PRESBYTERIANISM 


a  difiiculty  which  had  arisen  hotween  tlio  Rev.  Alex.  Mc- 
Lean and  tlio  Rev.  Mr.  Uniuhart.  The  hitter,  as  we  liavo 
S(;en,  leavinj;  iiis  wife  in  ScotUnid,  and  liearini;  that  she 
was  dead,  liad  married  another.  A  hltcr  iVoin  tiic  tna; 
wife,  ad(h'e.ssed  to  his  care,  Mr.  ^lelvcan  had  shewn  to  tlie 
American  wife  hefore  he  ^'ave  it  to  Mr.  lJr([uhart.  In  Ins 
resentment  Ids  letters  and  expressions  lie  had  "  not 
kept  within  the  rules  of  tenderness,"  "and  we  heartily 
recommend  it  to  them  l)oth  to  expi'css  their  forgiveness  to 
each  other  for  any  imprudences  the  hour  of  tem])tati()u 
may  have  ])rodueed,  and  resolve  to  hury  all,  and  emhraeo 
each  other  in  the  arms  of  cordial  tVii'udship.  W'e  lind 
nothinjj;  hut  what  may  have  Ix.'en  the  ellect  of  incautiou 
and  infirnnty."  This  was  voted  by  the  Presbytery,  and 
acquiesced  in  by  both  ])arties. 

Concerning  the  Presljyterian  Church  in  Sahnn,  of  whom 
a  part  had  called  in  a  Con_u;regational  councnl  to  Jud;i('  in 
their  quarrel  with  Dr.  Whittaker,  the  Presljytery  say,  "  We 
with  abhorrence  detest  and  cannot  but  lament,  that  an- 
other denomination  of  Christians,  in  these  frei;  States, 
should  claim  authorit}'  and  jurisdiction  over  us  Presbyte- 
rians, who  have  behaved  j)eaceably  and  lived  in  love  with 
our  CJongregational  l)rethren." 

''That,  as  said  Council  was  wholly  preconstitutional, 
called  wholly  without  the  knowledge  of  Dr.  Whittaker, 
and  a  court  to  which  he  was  in  no  sense  subject  any  more 
than  to  a  court  of  Kpiscoj)alians,  his  refusing  to  be  heard 
and  tried  by  them  Avas  truly  commendable,  and  can  by  no 
means  bear  any  mark  of  contumacy." 

The  charge  was  brought  that  the  third  church,  Salem, 
was  Congregational  when  Whittaker  settled,  and  that  ho 
brouglit  them  over  to  Presbyterianism.  This  was  strouff 
language  in  reference  to  that  system,  which  "  took  its  rise" 
in  that  very  town  on  August  of.h,  1G29.  As  "  an  old  smug- 
gler "  is  said  to  "  make  a  good  custom  house  search  oilicer," 
so  the  Doctor  knew  the  tactics  of  his  op])onents.  This 
Presbytery  now  show,  that  said  congregation  Avas  ev(>r 
deemed  a  Presbyterian  church  from  tht;  settlement  of  Dr. 
W.  among  them  in  1709,  when  it  was  received  as  such  "by 
their  own  desire,  choice,  and  request,"  and  that  these 
charges  were  refuted  "in  1774,  when  the  same  objections 
were  made  by  his  adversaries." 


IN    NEW    ENGLAND. 


211 


The  ftncieti/,  the  Parisli  jxnvliolch'rs  connected  -.vith  tlie 
church,  had  refused  to  iichuit  tlic  Doctor's  labor-  since  tlio 
^oth  of  March  hist,  and  alter  a  lon^'  c(»nsi('('iai  .jn  of  tlio 
suhjct't,  in  which  thev  shrw  that  he  iiad  iahorcd  ijilhfullv 
and  spent  niueii  of  his  jirivatc  substance  for  tiicir  ^ood, 
and  for  whieii  Ik;  was  now,  hy  tijc  jfcnius  and  spirit  of  tho 
State  reh^ion,  reeeivin;:,  so  far  as  partisan  leelin^'  could 
reach,  only  i)ersccution.  The  Treshytery  exlu)rted  tho 
Doctor  to  "a  careful  search  why  the  Lord  was  now  con- 
tending with  him,"  and  to  watchfulness,  while  they  reconi- 
niendcd  him  to  the  churches  as  a  "  worthy  minister  of 
Christ." 

The  Rev.  Nathaniel  ^[errill  was  now  proceeding  from 
bad  to  worse,  by  lying  and  in  view  of  scandalous  stories, 
lieside  reading  a  pajjer  l)efore  Presbytery,  advocating  his 
idea  that  vox  poixili  i:4  cox  Dei. — "the  voice  of  the  j)i'o])lc  is 
the  voice  of  God,"  and  he  was  bv  them  suspended  from 
liis  ministry  till  the  next  session  of  the  court. 

The  Uev,  Alexander  McLean,  "  on  account  of  some  pecu- 
liar circumstances  of  his  p(!ople,"  now  asked  and  very  re- 
luctantly obtained  a  dismission.  Presbytery  "  hoping  that 
a  way  may  soon  be  opened  for  his  union  with  us  again." 

At  Gray,  in  Maine,  four  ministers  met  (while  six  were 
absent),  and  the  church  in  that  town  having  adoi)ted  tho 
Presbyterian  plan  of  church  government,  souglit  union  and 
was  admittetl  under  the  care  of  Presbytery  on  Se])tember 
8th,  1784.  "A  call  from  the  town  for  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Perley  was  presented,  and  considering  the  whole  of  tho 
votes  of  the  church  and  the  town,  the  Presbytery  adviso 
him  to  accept  their  call."  Before  his  installation,  which 
took  place  on  tho  same  day,  the  town  were  called  upon  to 
ol)ject,  and  "only  live  who  call  themselves  Baptists  lifted 
up  their  hands  against  it."  "  The  service  was  concluded 
with  prayer  and  a  psalm." 

"  Ordered,  That  Dr.  W'hittakcr  write  a  consolatory  letter 
to  the  congregation  in  Groton  and  appoint  Mr.  Strickland 
•  to  preach  to  them  as  often  as  he  can." 

xVbout  forty  heads  of  families  in  New  Gloucester,  Maine, 
now  i)etition  to  be  received,  and  Dr.  A\'hittaker  was  ap- 
pointed to  write  to  the  Rev.  Samuel  Foxcraft  of  that  toAvn 
to  learn  if  the  way  be  clear.  All  means  having  failed  with 
the  twenty  malcontents  in  Salem  to  re-establish  peace  be- 


5!!!* 


T,:\ 


212 


HISTORY   OF  PRESBYTKRIANISM 


*^ 


tween  them  and  Dr.  Whittakcr,  a  few  "  unreasonable,"  if 
not  ''  wicked  men,"  beinjjf  often  able  to  pull  down  what 
they  eould  not  build,  and,  in  the  spirit  of  Diotre])lios, 
bein<jj  willin^j;  '"  to  rule  in  hell  rather  than  serve  in  lieaven," 
the  Presbytery  now  dissolved  the  pastoral  relation,  which 
had  subsisted  lor  fifteen  years. 

A  petition  was  now  "received  from  the  Plantation  of 
Canaan  on  Kennebec  river,"  in  answer  to  which  the  Pres- 
bytery received  them,  and  afterwards,  at  tlieir  reciuest, 
over  them  as  their  pastor,  settled  the  Kev.  Nathaniel  Whit- 
taker,  D.  D.,  on  September  15th,  1784.  lie  had  (in  his 
case)  realized  the  term  Salem  to  be  a  misnomer.  He  was 
"  for  peace,"  but  the  twenty  were  "  keen  for  battle."  Rc- 
movinjx  from  the  vicinity  of  "Gallows  Hill,"  he  found  in 
the  wilderness  of  Maine,  what  he  could  not  realize  in 
Numkeafi;,  even  after  its  inliabitants  had  for  a  century  nnd 
a  half  enjoyed  the  civilization  introduced  by  Skclton,  Hif;;- 
ginson  and  Williams  as  reformers  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land. 

As  settlements  were  annually  forrning  in  the  wilderness 
by  people,  not  a  few  of  whom  were  }>rouf2;ht  up  Presbytr- 
rians,  so,  from  these  new  towns  application  was  at  times 
made  to  have  Presbyterian  ecclesiastical  connection.  Thus, 
"the  church  and  congregation  of  a  jdantation,  then  called 
Sylvester,  had  voted  unanimously  to  accept  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  Discipline,  and  the  Rev.  INIr.  Strickland  at 
their  request  gathered  them  as  an  organization  with  ruliuii- 
ciders,  and  he  now  desires  the  ap])robation  of  this  body."' 

"  Voted,  That  the  said  measure  is  approved." 

The  town  not  yet  ineor])orated,  and  having  some  ]Hililie 
incumbrances  when  a  call  was  })resented  to  Mr.  Strickland, 
the  Presbytery  advise  him  and  his  ])eo})le,  as  their  eircuni- 
stances  may  change,  to  submit  their  matters  to  its  jurisdic- 
tion, and  while  the  sum  voted  (filty  jiounds)  was  small,  it 
"ought  to  be  increased  as  their  alnlity  shall  increase."  To 
this  they  mutually  agreed  before  his  installation,  which 
took  ])lace  on  September  20th,  17<S4. 

While  this  settlement  was  unanimous,  the  people  had 
considerations  of  their  own  to  which  they  required  att(  n- 
tion.  According  to  Congregational  jiolity,  tlie  ])eople  could 
fit  any'  time  dismiss  a  minister,  es])ecially  l)y  the  advice 
of  a  council;  but  these  people  saw  that  at  times  the  Pros- 


IN    NEW  ENGLAND. 


213 


bytcry  conld  and  would  remove  a  pastor  -vvlien  his  charge 
were  anxious  to  liavc  liim  continue,  as  had  been  done  at 
lioothbay  by  another  Presbytery.  Hence,  some  of  tbe  peo- 
])le  at  Sylvester  had  "  some  dilKculty  in  their  minds  with 
respect  to  his  removal  from  them  by  tiie  Presbytery." 
These  he  removed,  l)y  statinjji;  tliat  he  had  "not  known  an 
instance  in  his  Presbytery,"  and  by  engaging  never  to  ''re- 
move from  tliis  congregation  as  long  as  it  a])])ears  that  E 
am  useful  as  a  minister,  and  this  people  fulfil  their  con- 
tract with  me,''  Neither  tlie  '"  hay-fever,"  tlie  "minister's 
sickness,"  nor  the  "  louder  call,"  could  draw  him  from  ;i 
confiding,  aflectionate  and  dutiful  people.  This  was  credita- 
ble to  both  parties. 

As  the  Rev.  Mr.  Foxcraft  was  requested  to  give  light  on 
the  aflfairs  of  New  (lloucester,  he,  with  two  of  his  people, 
now  appeared  before  Presbytery,  where  matters  of  disi)ute 
were  heard,  and  judgment  rendered  thus: 

"We  cannot  but  fear  that  many  have  treated  Mr,  Fox- 
craft  unkhidly,  and  could  heartily  wish  that  the  disaffected 
could  sit  quietly  and  profit  under  him. 

"  But  as  a  large  number  profess  that  they  cannot  profit 
by  his  ministry,  and  that,  on  close  attention  to  the  subject, 
they  arc  conscientiously  Presbyterians :  therefore  we  can- 
not say  that  it  is  their  duty  to  act  contrary  to  their  judg- 
ment, but  declare  that  they,  as  all,  have  liberty  to  worship 
God  agreeably  to  their  own  consciences  wherever  they  have 
o]>portunity.  We  wish  that  said  disaffected  could  profita- 
bly unite  with  the  rest  of  the  town  in  settling  a  minister 
agreeably  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Foxcraft's  proposal.  But,  if  they 
cannot,  we  recommend  them  to  wait  on  (Jod,  and  be  much 
in  prayer  for  light  and  direction,  and  seek  for  a  regular 
incorporation,  that  they  may  be  in  a  capacity  to  support 
tlie  gospel  among  them." 

They  tlien  exhort  them  to  avoid  "  vain  janglings,"  study 
the  peace  and  prosperity  of  the  town,  and  be  steadfast  in 
doctrine. 

At  a  meeting  hold  at  Sylvester,  June  1st,  1785,  at  his 
own  request,  the  Rev.  John  Houston  was  dismissed  and 
recommended  to  the  churches  ;  and  so  also  was  the  chureli 
and  congrcgjvtion  in  (iroton.  The  Presbytery  being  now 
geemingly  in  the  humor,  also  dismissed  and  gave  a  gen- 
eral recommendation  to  the  Rjcv.  Mr.  Taggart  and  the 
church  of  Coleraine. 


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214 


HISTORY  OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


"  Voted,  Thcit  the  minute  made  in  1775  at  NcNvhurj^port, 
delating  to  uniformity,  be  recommended  to  the  several  con- 
gregations under  our  care." 

At  Tojjsham,  September  7th,  1785,  a  call  was  presented 
from  Number  Six  Westward,  and  Number  One  Eastward 
of  Union  Iliver,  in  Lincoln  county,  for  tlie  settlement  of 
the  Rev.  John  Urquluirt,  A.  M.,  in  the  gosi)el  ministry 
among  them,  and  desiring  annexation  to  this  body.  They 
■were  received.  He  was  dismissed  from  Tojjsham  and  forth- 
with settk'd  at  Union  River.  "  Ordered,  to  r(>ad  tlie  con- 
stitution." The  delinquents,  AVilliams  and  Merrill,  were 
to  ])c  again  cited  to  ap])ear. 

Tlie  Presbytery  of  Sakni  met  at  Gray,  June  21st,  17<S6. 
Present — Rev.  S.  Perley  and  John  Strickland.  Elder  John 
Keen.  Absent — Whittaker,  Baldwin,  A\'illiams,  Merrill, 
Gilmore  and  Benjamin  Balck,  with  Miltimore,  their  candi- 
date.    After  prayer  the  following  minute  is  recorded  : 

"Whereas  most  of  the  members  of  the  Presbytery  are 
absent,  and  there  being  no  business  of  importance  to  be 
transacted  in  it :  Voted,  therefore,  that  this  meeting  be  ad- 
journed Sine  die." 

The  pressure  of  their  surroundings  brought  the  members 
of  this  Salem  Presbyterv,  who  now  seem  onlv  to  have  "a 
name  to  live  partly  in  two  years,  to  their  senses,  and  in 
response  to  a  call  of  the  moderator,  a  meeting  was  held  at 
Turner,  the  charge  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Strickland,  on  August 
13th,  1788.  Present — Perley  and  Strickland  with  three 
elders. 

"  Voted,  To  send  a  consolatory  letter  to  the  people  of 
Number  Six  and  One  on  Union  River." 

This  will  be  explained  under  the  notice  of  their  meeting 
at  Gray,  on  January  15th,  1780.  There  and  then  Captain 
Matthew  Patton  tabled  the  charge  "  of  a  design  to  deceive" 
against  the  Rev.  John  Urquhart,  in  saying,  in  a  letter  to 
his  wife,  six  days  before  his  installation,  "that  he  was 
obliged  to  go,  but  he  knew  not  where,  and  therefore  could 
not  inform  her  where  to  direct  a  Ittter  to  him.  That  he 
lias  two  wives,  and  will  not  receive  his  lawful  wife,  but 
keeps  a  concubine.  Also  to  answer  to  said  Patton's  in- 
sinuation of  forgery  of  the  letter  informing  of  the  death  of 
his  lirst  wife." 

Mr.  Patton  was  duly  "  cited  to  appear  at  the  next  stated 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


215 


session  to  sustain  the  above  charges  taken  from  his  letter 
to  the  Presbytery  of  September  8th,  1788."  ^Ir.  Perlcy, 
of  Gray,  was  absent  at  the  meeting  in  his  church,  on  Jan- 
uary 15th,  and  liis  congregation  made  then  no  preparation 
for  tlie  accommodation  of  the  Presbytery,  who  now,  while 
they  excuse  him  for  absence,  "think  him  truly  faulty  in 
not  notifying  the  members,  and  not  making  some  provi- 
sion for  their  acconnnodation  in  his  absence." 

Neither  pastor  nor  ])eople  seem  to  have  been  "given  to 
hospitaUty."  They  were  not  permeated  with  this  Scotch- 
Irish  grace. 

We  again  and  aheady  find  Dr.  Whittaker  in  trouble 
with  a  Mr.  \Vm.  Steward,  and  tlie  Presbytery  appoint  a 
meeting  on  the  12th  of  March,  1789,  in  Canaan,  for  inves- 
tigation. Resort  is  again  had  (perhaps  necessarily  now, 
owing  to  the  paucity  of  members)  to  expediency,  to  ask 
two  Congregational  ministers  to  sit  with  the  Presbytery 
(among  these  the  Rev.  Alex.  McLean,  of  Bristol).  Cita- 
tions are  issued  for  the  second  Thursday  of  February, 
1700,  but  here  the  minutes  become  defective — they  do  not 
record  the  result. 

At  Gray,  January  loth,  1789,  citations  were  issued  in 
the  case  of  Urquhart,  both  to  him  and  his  accuser,  Captain 
Matthew  Patton,  to  appear  before  Presbytery  at  Whithrop, 
on  the  first  Thursday  of  October,  1789,  at  which  place  and 
time  Presbytery  met.  Present,  Whittaker,  Perley,  and 
Strickland,  with  Eiders  Peter  Heywood,  ICsq.,  and  John 
Keen;  absent,  Baldwin,  Williams,  Merrill,  Balch,  Milti- 
inore,  and  Gilmore,  with  their  elders.  We  have  previously 
noticed  the  Rev.  George  Gilmore.  When  a  licentiate  he 
landed  in  Philadelphia  on  September  9th,  1769.  For 
nearly  four  years  he  supplied  in  diflerent  places  (it  is  be- 
lieved) in  Congregational  vacancies  as  well  as  in  Presby- 
terian pulpits,  and  while  he  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
sufficiently  attractive  to  have  obtained  a  call,  yet  the  Bos- 
ton Presbytery  ordained  him  on  May  2(3th,  1773.  Of  it 
he  continued  a  member  until  the  formation  of  the  Synod 
in  1775,  when,  residing  (as  is  supposed)  in  Voluntown, 
C'onn.,  he  was  allotted  to  the  Presbytery  of  Palmer. 

At  the  dissolution  of  the  Synod,  on  September  12th, 
1782,  his  name  remained  on  the  reunited  roll,  and  under 
its  change  of  name  to  the  Presbytery  of  Salem,  and  they 


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216 


HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


record,  on  Octo])er  1st,  17S0,  "As  tlie  Rev.  Geo.  Gilmoro 
has  been  long  absent  from  this  body,  aiul  we  not  knowhis; 
where  he  is,  the  Presbytery  concliicle  tu  drop  him  out  of 
their  list." 

As  the  war  of  tlic  Revolution  approaclied,  being  loyal  to 
Great  Britain,  he  with  great  difliculty  and  mueh  loss  es- 
caped to  Canada.  As  Presbyterianism  had  not  as  yet  any 
existence  in  the  Provinces  then  of  that  name,  excepting  a 
mere  coriimencement  in  Montreal,  so  in  due  time  lie 
reached  Nova  Scotia.  Tliere  he  was  welcomed  and  useful. 
He  for  many  years  officiated  at  Newport,  and  lie  there 
died.  Some  of  his  posterity,  it  is  believed,  were  persons 
of  much  moral  wortli. 

The  Rev.  Simon  Williams,  having  years  ago  withdrawn 
and  been  censured,  he  was  at  tliis  meeting  "  adjudged 
guilty  of  wilful  contumacy,  cut  oft'  and  excommunicated 
from  this  body." 

Not  only  so,  Nathaniel  Merrill  had  for  five  years  spurned 
the  citations  and  despised  the  authority  of  Presbytery,  and 
in  his  "  moral  character  becoming  more  and  more  infamous 
and  utterly  unworthy  of  the  sacred  office.  Therefore,  this 
Presbytery  depose  him  from  his  ministerial  office,  and  ex- 
communicato him  from  their  body  and  their  Christian 
communion." 

This  was  indeed  a  sorrowful  exhibit. 

We  come  now  to  the  final  meeting  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Salem  at  Gray,  on  the  14th  of  September,  1791.  Members 
present.  Revs.  Dr.  Whittaker,  Samuel  Perley,  and  John 
Strickland ;  absent,  Baldwin,  Balch,  and  ]\Iiltimore,  with 
their  elders.  Opened  as  usual  with  prayer.  Mr.  Perley, 
Moderator,  and  Mr.  Strickland,  clerk. 

"  Taking  into  consideration  the  state  of  matters  between 
the  Rev.  Samuel  Perley  and  the  church  and  congregation 
of  the  town  of  Gray,  and  having  examined  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  church  and  peoi)]e,  and  finding  nothing  exhib- 
ited by  any  against  the  Rev.  Mr.  Perley,  eitlier  as  a  Chri.-- 
tian  or  a  minister  of  Christ,  but,  on  the  contrary,  that  th(; 
I'resbyterian  church  at  Gray  have  recommended  him  as 
faithful,  and  with  reluctance  consent  to  his  dismission  from 
them — to  which,  they  say,  tliey  are  necessitated  by  a  divi- 
tiion  of  the  town  by  an  act  of  the  general  Court  of  this 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


217 


Commonwpnlth,  nnd  clirorfully  submit  to  this  Presbytery 
the  time  and  manner  of  hU  dismission. 

"Tlie  Presbytery,  hoi)inu-  that  events  may  so  oecur  that 
tlio  cliureh  and  eonurciintion  at  (jra/j  may  yet  continue 
liim  as  their  {)ast()r,  juiljie  it  best  not  to  i)roc(HHl  to  dismiss 
liim  immediately,  but  still  continue  him  there  for  further 
trial,  and  then  leave  it  to  tlie  judgment  of  tlie  parties  to 
say  when  he  shall  be  dismissed,  unless  some  dilliculty 
should  arise  which  may  require  the  presence  of  the  Pres- 
bytery. 

"  They  now  recommend  Mr.  Pcrlcy  as  an  able  and  faith- 
ful minister  of  the  inospel  in  i^ood  standinir,  and  then  earn- 
estly recommend  this  church  and  people  to  use  their  best 
endeavors  for  Christian  love  and  union  for  the  continuance 
of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Perley. 

"Gm^,  ^September  14th,  1791.  The  Presbytery  adjourned 
sine  die.     Concluded  by  prayer. 

(Signed)  "John  Strickland,  Presby.  Clerk." 

We  thus  see  the  development  of  Presbyterianism  from 
1718  till  1791  in  part.  Tlie  original  "  Irish  "  Presbytery 
of  Londonderry  became  extinct  about  1765.  We  have 
now  seen  the  growth,  vitality,  and  decay  of  the  second 
Presbytery,  commenced  in  1745,  forming  a  Synod  with 
three  Presliyteries  for  seven  years  and  three  months,  and 
dwindling  down  under  the  title  of  the  Presbytery  oi  Salem 
until  it  iinally,  after  a  life  of  forty-six  years,  expired  at 
(ri-aii  in  Maine,  and  we  nov»^  return  to  "  the  Presbytery  at 
the  Eastward." 


M 


218 


HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


CHAPTER  IX. 

1768-1793— One  man— Vamped— "  AVoolcrs"— Ordered— The  doctrine 
— Cobbiaiiente — The  Baiuier  Church — Davidson  alone — Williams  asks 
aid  to  allay  Parish  diflicnlties — A  place  of  ecclesiastical  refuge — Four 
aided  by  a  Burse  at  Dartmouth — Good  men  formerly  came  to  aid — Eliot 
— His  mantle — Indian  school — Occiini  a  Mohegan — A  College — Com- 
mittee, a  letter  of,  to  the  Boanl — For  comparison  with — A  reply — To 
remit  entirely  the  fees — Auspicious  rnys — Rev.  John  Hubbard — Sol. 
Moore  of  New  Boston — Messrs.  Annan  and  W.  Morrison  invited  to  sit 
— A  colleague  for  Mr.  Davidson  asked — "White  Creek,  New  York — 
Cambridge,  N.Y. — Miltimore — A.  R.  Presbytery — Four  observations — 
Prore  nata — Westof  the  Green  Mountains — SincetiieWar — Tendencies 
— Free  will — Universalism — Rellyite  John  Murray — In  New  Hamp- 
6hireinl773 — Measures  of  hell — Testimony  emitted — BathKol — Deism 
— Family  worshipastranger — Sot's  holes — A  cold  stateshewn — Twelve 
years,  1771-1783 — A  wide  field — Eliot  saw  twenty-four  Indian  ministers 
— For  Witchcraft  nineteen — Revival  1739-44 — Arminianism  now  re- 
spectable— Individuals  in  Newburyport  did  not  believe  the  perpetuity 
— Pastor  and  session  of  Newburyi)ori  approved — Actual  reformation — 
Presbyterial  visitations — Rules — An  account — Advantages  of  it — 
Learn  to  sustain — Such  duty  has  the  promise. 

This  Presbytery  obtained  its  vitality  from  one  man,  as 
our  modern  "  Reformed  Protestant  Episcopalians "  in 
America  obtained  through  a  lineal  ecclesiastical  descend- 
ant of  John  Wesley,  who,  through  a  bishop  of  the  Greek 
Church  (according  to  Toplady),  received  the  thread  of 
.'ipostolical  succession,  and  have  had  it  vamped  with  refrii- 
lar  prelatic  ordination  given  to  him  in  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church  in  the  United  States ;  so  John  JNIurray,  oli- 
taining  his  ministerial  standing  from  the  "  Class  at  Wooler " 
(whoever  they  were),  and  having  it  vamped  by  a  regular 
Presbyterial  ordination  in  Philadelphia  (though  on  forged 
papers,  as  was  supposed),  became,  as  we  have  seen,  the 
father  and  vitalizing  force  of  this  Presbytery. 

It  was  erected  at  Boothbay,  ill  Maine,  on  June  27th, 
1771.  At  its  first  adjourned  meeting,  September  17th, 
1771,  at  Brunswick,  "  Ordered,  that  the  doctrines  of  the 


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IN   NEW   ENGLAND. 


219 


Confession  of  Faith  be  discussed  in  their  order."  This 
was  a  wise  beginning,  for  the  doctrine  is  tliat  which  saves 
or  damns  the  souL  It  is  all  important  to  know  "the  doc- 
trine of  God  our  Saviour,"  and  to  be  able  to  detect  ''doc- 
trines of  devils  "  where  they  exist.  Hence  the  Divine  in- 
junction, "  Take  heed  to  the  doctrine,  for  by  so  doing  thou 
shalt  both  save  thyself  and  them  that  hear  thee." 

Euphonious  names  of  aboriginal  origin  are  not  unfre- 
quent  even  now  "  down  East,"  and  their  minutes  then  pre- 
sent one  :  "As  a  commissioner  has  come  from  Cobbisuente, 
we  each  give  them  one  day's  sermon."     This  was  well. 

We  have  previously  seen  the  desolation  of  Boothbay  liy 
the  translation  of  Mr.  Murray  to  Newburyi)ort,  which  now 
formed  the  Banner  Church  of  the  Presbytery,  and  we  find 
that  the  Rev.  Wm.  Davidson,  who  had  been  settled  in  Derry 
in  1739,  was  now  alone.  Belonging  to  the  Presbytery 
which  had  suspended  Moorehead  and  McGregor,  he  could 
not  recognize  the  court  which  they  were  instrumental  in 
erecting,  and  now,  in  1781,  he  seeks  admission  to  "the 
Presbytery  at  the  Eastward."  Of  it  a  meeting  pro  re  nata 
was  held  in  Derrv  on  October  23d,  when  the  Rev.  Solomon 
Moore,  of  New  Boston,  and  the  Rev.  S.  Williams,  of  Wind- 
ham, were  invited  to  sit  as  correspondents ;  and  "  the  Rev. 
William  Davidson  stated  that  he  had  been  ordained  by  a 
Presbytery,  had  for  many  years  been  pastor  of  his  present 
charge,  and  a  member  of  the  Presbytery  of  Londonderry, 
which  had  been  dissolved  by  removal  and  death  of  its 
members,"  and  that  he' was  then  unconnected  with  any 
ecclesiastical  judicatory.  He  (with  his  elder,  Moses  Bar- 
nett,  and  the  church  and  congregation  by  them  rei)re- 
sented)  was  now  oflicially  admitted. 

The  Rev.  S.  Williams  "  made  a  statement  of  difficulties 
existing  in  his  congregation  in  Windham,  and  he  requests 
some  of  the  members  of  this  Presbytery  to  attend  his  Pres- 
bytery at  Windham  on  the  14th  of  next  month." 

The  Synod  of  New  England  still  existed,  and  his  would 
he  the  Londonderry  Presbytery,  probabh'^  so  far  reduced 
in  its  working  force  as  to  be  unable  to  allay  human  pas- 
sions when  in  vigorous  conmiotion.  How  far  the  request 
was  granted  does  not  appear. 

As  we  have  seen,  the  Long  Lane  congregation  had 
entered  their  "  declinature  "  and  stood  upon  it^  while  some 


I? 


ifi. 


220 


HISTORY   OF   PREPBYTEL.   .NISM 


I 


thirty  persona  of  a  minority  continued  to  be  subject  to  the 
Presbytery,  and  it  was  now  "  Ordered,  That  if  they  should 
desire  it,  Mr.  Murray  has  permission  to  transmit  a})})liea- 
tions  from  them  to  any  n)inist(T  they  may  have  in  view, 
or  to  any  Presbytery  to  which  sueli  minister  may  belonfr, 
in  regular  manner  and  form,  as  by  the  api)ointment  and 
consent  of  this  Presbytery." 

On  June  14th  it  was  reported  to  Presley tery  that  the 
Rev.  John  Murray  had  been  settled  as  i)ast()r  in  Newbury- 
port,  on  June  4th,  1781 ;  and  on  October  1st,  17<S2,  at  Derry, 
the  Rev.  Simon  Williams  gave  his  version  of  his  declining 
the  authority  of  the  Synod  of  New  England,  for  "  various 
illegal  stei)s  which  they  had  taken,"  and  under  the  shadow 
of  this  Presbytery  as  a  })lace  of  ecclesiastical  refuge,  he 
(with  his  congregation)  and  Mr.  James  Miltimore  and 
Joseph  McKeen,  candidates,  now  placed  themselves. 

On  the  original  ''  Formula  of  the  First  Presbytery  of  the 
Eastward,"  their  names  were  at  that  date  duly  enrolled. 

These  two  young  men,  with  the  two  sons,  Gilbert  Tennant 
and  Simon  Finlay,  of  the  Rev.  Simon  Williams,  had  en- 
joyed, or  were  then  enjoying,  the  aid  each  of  a  Burse  at 
Dartmouth  College.  This  was  one  of  the  ways  in  which 
the  ever-active  mind  of  the  Rev.  John  Murray  was  for 
years  engaged,  ^\'hether  he,  after  graduating  at  Edin- 
burgh, had  felt  himself  deficient  in  relation  to  a  full  course 
of  study  or  not,  he  knew  that  the  office  of  a  Presbyterian 
minister  would  not  be  honored,  if  he  were  not  abreast  of 
all  men  in  the  other  professions. 

This  was  a  grievous  drawback  to  the  spread,  support 
and  perpetuity  of  the  truth  as  contained  in  their  "  form  of 
sound  words  "  in  New  England. 

Good  men  came  in  the  first  and  earlier  emigrations  to 
them  to  labor  in  the  work  of  the  ministry,  but,  in  time, 
defective  characters,  such  as  John  Morrison  and  Urquhart, 
polluted  their  ministry. 

Dartmouth  College,  as  noticed,  was,  in  its  early  stages 
of  existence,  said  to  be  essentially  Presbyterian. 

Soon  after  the  settlement  of  New  P]ngland,  the  immortal 
Eliot  was  blessed,  as  an  instrumentality  in  the  hand  of 
Christ,  in  turning  many  of  the  dusky  sons  and  daughters 
of  the  forest  "  from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power 
of  Satan  unto  God,"  and  when  "taken  up,"  his  mantle  fell 


IN  NEW   ENGLAND. 


221 


upon  others.  Amon.c:  these  was,  after  the  middle  of  tlie 
('i«j;ht(^('ntli  century,  .J()hn  Sar^L'iint.  Ilr  lahorod  anioni:; 
the  St()c;khri(lj^e  trihe,  and  knowini:;,  by  abundant  ohscrva- 
ilon,  that  "for  tlie  soul  to  be  wiliiout  knowhxltrc  was  not 
good,"  he  aimed  at  dilfusinj,'  useful,  but  es|)<'cially  saving' 
kiiowledj^i!  aniouj";  his  Indians.  Out  of  his  Indian  school 
spnniu  up  a  college.  Aniont:;  his  i)Uj)ils,  Sampson  Occum, 
a  Mohegan,  obtained  a  standing  in  the  Christian  ministry, 
and,  in  api)ealing  to  generous  stewards  of  his  Master's 
goods,  he,  with  the  llcv.  xSathaniel  Whittaker,  went  to 
Cireat  Britain  about  ITOG. 

(In  17G7  the  University  of  St.  Andrews  gave  to  Whit- 
taker the  degree  of  Doctor  in  Divinity). 

The  novelty  of  the  appearance  of  Occum,  his  ability, 
earnestness  and  the  interests  of  his  race,  excited  the  atten- 
tion of  many  benevolent  persons,  who  were  willing  to 
"honor  the  Lord  with  their  substance"  until  his  "mis- 
sionary school "  obtained  the  means  to  take  rank  as  a  col- 
lege. Not  only  the  common  people,  but  some  of  those  of 
rank,  vied  in  the  enter})rise,  and  as  Lord  Dartmouth  gave 
for  the  purpose  the  most  munificent  sum,  the  town  of 
Ihmover,  N.  H.,  was  honored  and  much  of  New  England 
bl(>ssed  by  the  founding  of  Dartmouth  College  there  in 
1769.  The  man  for  the  place,  the  first  president,  was  the 
Rev.  Eleazer  \\'heelock  ;  succeeded  during  the  first  century 
by  his  brother,  by  Jirown,  Dana,  Tyler  and  Lord,  the  in- 
stitution has  become  an  eminent  "success,"  and  is  "not  a 
whit  behind  "  any  other  seminary  in  tlie  land  in  develop- 
ing mind  and  making  men  useful.  Others  there  are  on 
which  funds  are  more  extensively  heaped,  but  few,  if  any, 
can  be  named  where  reputation,  during  the  perilous  years 
of  college  life,  is  more  safe,  or  future  usefulness,  on  the 
average,  more  extensively  secured.  Though  rnly  and 
nlways  a  college,  the  names  of  Webster  and  Choate,  among 
her  graduates,  are  names  of  which  any  university  would 
feel  })roud.  Many  of  the  early  friends  of  this  seat  of  learn- 
ing were  Presbyterians,  and  to  it,  among  the  others,  "  the 
Presbytery  at  the  Eastward  "  looked  for  an  increase  in  the 
gospel  ministry  by  forming  Burses. 

Paper  after  jiaper  antl  letter  after  letter  from  the  prolific 
pen  of  Murray  testify  this. 

In  February,  1784,  a  committee  of  the  Presbytery  wrote 


V 


Mm 


i>!il 


tl' 


222 


HISTORY"  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


to  tlio  "Honorable  Board  and  Immediate  Governors  of  the 

Institution." 

To  this  a  favornljU'  r('))ly  was  in  due  time  ol)tainod. 

"  Impressed  with  a  (h'cp  sense  ol'  the  ()hn<i;ati()n  con- 
ferred upon  us  by  the  ])ioi;s  and  generous  proposal  of  the 
worthy  patrons  of  tiie  cause  of  rehgion  and  literature 
which  you  have  so  ])oliteiy  connuunicated :  Tlie  Pres- 
bytery entertained  the  enclosed  resolutions  on  their 
records  as  a  jx'rpetual  monument  of  the  charity  and 
pious  zeal  of  the  university  over  which  you  worthily 
preside. 

"  We  were  not  a  little  animated  by  the  generous  engaL'o- 
ment  of  the  Board,  and  authority  to  remit  entirely  the 
fees  and  tuition  money  of  such  Bursar  ns  at  any  time  miyht 
be  sent  by  us  for  education  to  that  highly  favored  fountain 
of  learning. 

"Long  may  the  seminary  under  your  care  flourish  liy 
those  auspicious  rays  of  the  Sun  of  rightemisness  which 
have  hitherto  distinguished  it  as  the  favorite  ])lantation  of 
the  Divine  hushiuidry. 

"  The  lion.  President  Wiieelock." 

It  will  be  thus  seen  that  not  only  Grafton  Pres])ytery, 
but  also  the  Presbytery  at  tlie  Eastward,  had  a  deep  inter- 
est in  Dartmouth  College. 

As  a  matter  of  courtesy,  the  Presbytery  at  Windliam, 
on  October  2:id,  1782,  invited  the  elders  from  Bedford  and 
Golfstown,  then  i)resent,  to  sit  as  correspondents,  and  on 
May  2()th,  1783,  the  elder  from  the  latter  place  presented  a 
commission  from  a  Presbyterian  jsoeiety  there  and  was  re- 
ceived. 

Other  congregations  continued  to  come  to  Presbyterian- 
ism,  and  on  the  same  day  the  K(!V.  John  Hubbard  and 
Mr.  Thos.  Tewksbury  as  an  elder  i)resented  their  constitu- 
tion as  a  Presbyterian  society. 

The  Rev.  Solomon  Moore  and  William  Moore,  his  elder, 
of  New  Boston,  ))resented  themselves  to  this  Presbytery, 
and  were  received. 

"Diligent  in  busin(>ss,"  the  Presbytery  in  due  form,  after 
satisfactory  ''trials,"  licensed  Mr.  Joseph  McKeen  to  preach 
the  gospel. 

Nor  was  tins  all.  At  this  May  meeting  they  were  vis- 
ited by  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Robert  and  David  Annan  and  Mr. 


IN    NEW   ENGLAND. 


223 


William  ^lorrison  ("to  be  subsequently  noticed),  who  were 
inviti'd  to  sit  as  covrcspoiKlcnts. 

Oil  (-)t'tober  .Stli,  178.J,  at  Caudia,  a  "  j)etition  from  Doer 
Island  was  answered  in  a  friendly  manner."  Pastors  Wil- 
lianis  and  Davidson  were  appointed  to  l»a])tiz(!  cliihh'en  at 
Duiibarton,  and  on  tbe  ai)plication  of  the  Rev.  John  Hub- 
bard and  n)enil)ers  of  lifs  society,  Presbytery  adjourned  to 
meet  in  Aniesbury,  Mass.,  which  they  did  on  November 
loth,  when  the  iirst  parish  of  Londonderry  requested  a 
supply  as  a  colleague  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  J^avidson,  when  a 
plan  for  forming,'  a  Rurse  was  encouraged  by  tlie  Presby- 
tery, and  tiie  "respectful  letter  to  the  authorities  of  Dart- 
nioulh  College  "  (inserted  above)  was  voted  to  be  sent. 

In  1784,  February  loth,  a  petition  was  received  from  the 
New  England  congregation  at  White  Creek,  New  York, 
])raying  to  be  received,  and  to  devise  some  proper  way  to 
inod(«rate  in  a  call,  and  to  this  the  Presl>ytery  sent  "a 
ehulk-nge  to  shew  (uiuse,  if  any,  why  the  ])rayer  of  the 
petition  should  not  be  granted  at  next  meeting." 

On  October  8th,  1783,  a  petition  had  been  received  from 
Canil)ridge,  New  York,  Avhieh,  when  "  considered  with  what 
the  Itev.  Dr.  Thomas  Clark  wrote  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Murray 
res})ecting  that  aliair,  the  Presbytery  sent  ^Ir.  James  Mil- 
tiuiore  thither  some  Saljl)aths.  If  his  preaching  there 
gave  ofl'ence  to  the  Associate  Reformed  Presbytery,  ho 
must  return  to  this  Presl)ytery  ;  and  we  cannot  allow  Mr. 
Miltinioro  to  preach  at  White  Creek  either,  if  by  so  doing 
the  said  Presbvtery  are  ofi'ended." 

Whether  they  were  offended  or  not,  preach  at  White 
Creek  he  did,  and  received  a  call,  which  he  subsequently 
declined. 

This  called  forth  an  urgent  letter  from  "  the  Hon.  I.  Wil- 
liams on  behalf  of  the  Trustees  of  the  New  England  con- 
gregation of  White  Creek,  praying  that  the  answer  of  Mr. 
Miltimore  be  revoked  and  that,  he  be  sent  to  that  place." 

Tlie  Presbytery  recorded  four  observations  anent  this 
letter:  1st.  That  they  had  used  no  intluenceto  induce  him 
to  decline  their  call,  and  they  did  not  know  Avhat  his 
answer  would  be  until  they  heard  it  in  judicature,  2d. 
They  had  reasons  to  believe  that  the  state  of  said  congre- 
gation and  its  connections  were  such  that  Miltimore  would 
have  given  the  same  answer  if  he  had  not  had  a  call  from 


:,  f 


Ill 


224 


HISTORY  OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


li 


'^l 


II 


» , 


the  Eastward.  3d.  Tliat  tlic  Presbytery  had  no  reason  to 
revoke  liis  answer  or  alter  their  jiuii^nient.  4th.  Tliat  no 
reason  is  oll'ered  by  said  hitler  why  they  shouhl  do  so; 
therefore  tlicy  do  not  "order  him  to  While  Creek." 

"Mr.  Miltiniore,  l)eint,'  eallid  on  to  make  iui.swer  to  that 
call,  replied,  that  ho  had  very  serionsly  and  prayerfully 
considered  that  same  throiii^hout  the  .season  ])ast,  anil 
viewed  himself  aceountahle  to  the  ^M'cat  Head  of  tlu! 
Church  for  the  result  of  his  deliherations  ;  hul  tliat,  on  the 
whole,  aecordinj^  to  the  hest  li^dit  he  had,  he  could  not  see 
it  to  be  his  duty  to  settle  there!." 

At  a  previous  nieetinji,  the  congrefration  of  Cambridge, 
N.  Y.,  if  their  eircumstanees  re([uired  it,  in  connection 
with  the  ])reaching  of  Millimore,  were  allowed  to  call  a 
pro  re  luita  meeting;  and  at  "  New  IJoston,  Se])teniber  8tli, 
1784,  at  such  a  meeting,  Mr.  .lohn  ^Morrison  appeared  as  a 
commissioner  from  Cand)ri(lg(>,  N.  Y.,  and  presenting  a 
coi)y  of  a  call,  requesting  Presbytery  to  sustain  it  and  i)re- 
sent  it  to  Mr.  Miltiniore." 

"  Voted  :  That  as  dilliculties  subsist,  they  cannot  sustain 
the  same." 

What  these  difficulties  fully  were  does  not  clearly  appear, 
and  his  reply  in  declining  the  call  from  White  Creek  j)ut 
a  terinination  to  all  eflorts  to  obtain  his  services  west  of 
the  Crreen  Mountains,  lie  received,  September  <Stli,  1784, 
a  call  from  Deer  Island.  This  he  did  nt)t  probably  accept, 
as  he  was  settled  at  Stratham,  N.  II.,  in  1780,  and  dis- 
missed in  October,  1807.  On  July  oOth,  1878,  the  town 
clerk  wrote :  "  I  do  not  find  any  record  of  the  settlement 
of  any  other  minister  since  the  said  JMiltimore."  A  town 
without  a  pastor  for  seventy  years !  "  Tell  it  not  in 
Gath." 

As  we  liave  seen,  for  y(>ars  it  was  their  practice  to  open 
their  stated  meetings  with  a  discourse  continuously  on  one 
of  the  chapters  of  the  Confession  of  Faith  by  a  member 
})reviously  appointed,  and  they  a])i)ear  for  several  years  to 
obey  the  injunction,  "  take  heed  to  the  doctrine."  Their 
surroundings  (as  stated)  were  sulTering  much  morally 
since  the  war. 

The  State  churches  became  in  many  cases  less  careful 
about  the  doctrine,  the  elders  were  ignored  and  their  oilice 
dropped,  and  tendencies  were  running  from  a  theocracy 


IN    NEW   KNOT, AND. 


225 


pear, 

st  oi 
178-1, 
ce\»t, 
dirf- 
town 

town 
ot  in 

open 
[n  one 

(ars  to 

iTluir 

ollice 
jcracy 


vostofl  in  an  oli*!;ar('hy  and  an  Athenian  deinocrary  to  an 
(■(•(•l('!<iastical  (Icinoeracv.  While  l*resi»yterianisni  was 
•IccHiiin^,  some  Ibrnis  of  Ct)n,:^'re<:i;ationaiisni  were  increus- 
in.ir. 

The  iiinnersinix  Conure^iationalists  (self-styled  Baptists) 
were  in  some  cases  diviTLiinif  tVoni  their  former  Calvinism, 
and,  tmdcr  the  tith>  of  j-'retwiil,  wer(>  *' sul)vertin;,'  houses." 
When  thns  so  far  removed  from  a  belief  in  the  existence 
of  "a  remnant  aecordinji  to  the  election  of  grace,"  as  to 
suppose,  with  Arnunius,  "That  .Iesusi.'hrist,  by  his  suller- 
iiiLis  and  (h'ath,  maih'  an  atonement  for  the  sins  of  all  man- 
kind in  general  and  of  every  iiuhvidiial  in  particular;  that, 
however,  none  but  those  who  believe  in  him  can  b(;  par- 
takers of  divine  beneilts,  '  it  would  not  do  violence  to  Con- 
}:re<iational  louic,  to  maintain.  That  "  if  Christ's  atonement 
is  of  such  value  as  to  save  all  n)en,  he  would  not  die  at  a 
venture,  but,  ])ossessed  of  inllnite  power,  he  would  save  all 
for  whom  he  died."  This,  taken  in  connection  with  the 
l)resum|)tnous  ass('rtion  of  ignorance,  that  ''(rod  is  too 
^ood  to  make  any  man  to  ilamn  him,"  oriirinated,  (jr,  at 
least,  helped  to  perfect  the  tenet,  that  "as  Christ  died  for 
all,  so  before  lie  sliall  have  delivered  u])  his  mediatorial 
kingdom  to  the  Father,  all  shall  b(^  brouiiht  to  a  participa- 
tion of  the  benelits  of  his  death  in  their  restoration  to  holi- 
ness and  happiness." 

In  the  conrse  of  a  few  years  afterwards,  those  who  in 
lMi'j;land  associated  with  Morgan,  in  17-i),  diverf2;ed,  Wes- 
ley i)ropa!j;atin,<jj  the  opinions  of  Arminius,  Whitelield  thos(i 
of  Calvin  in  relation  to  the  way  of  life,  and  James  Relly, 
upon  a  chan;>o  of  views,  maintained  "that  Christ,  as  a 
.^Iediator,  was  so  united  to  maidcind,  that  his  actions  were 
theirs,  his  obedience  and  suH'erin.u-s  theirs,  and,  cons<>- 
<iueritly,  that  he  as  fully  restored  the  whole  human  race 
to  the  divine  favor  as  if  all  had  obeyed  and  suffered  in 
their  own  ])ersons."  About  the  middle  of  that  century  a 
^Ir.  John  Murray,  l)elonu;in(r  to  Hclly's  society,  emigrated 
to  America  and  propagated  his  doctrines.  After  laboring 
some  time  in  New  Jersey,  he  first  preached  in  New  York 
in  1770.  He  soon  aft(n'wards  visited  Boston  and  obtained 
a  kind  of  resting  ]->lace  for  his  o])inions  in  Gloucester,  Mass. 
He  first  preached  Universalism  in  New  Hampshire  in  1773. 

This  new  type  of  Congregationalism,  that  is,  new  in  New 
15 


urn 


\'",i 


I  III 


M 


:iilll' 


226 


HISTORY   OF   PKESBYTERIANISM 


the 


Englanci  at  that  timo,  as  ponl-dostrovino;  and  God-dishon- 
oring, the  Presbyterians  conscimitiously  opjjosed,  ami  on 
May  21st,  ITSo,  eniittcd  a  testimony  concorninLi;  it.  Tims 
"Nvarnin<jj  tlu'ir  ix^-oplo  of  danijor,  which  had  now  hcconie 
the  more  insidious,  l>ecause  that  "the  Bay  State  I'snliu- 
l)ook  "  had  been  supplanted  among  the  C'ongregationnlists 
and  many  ot"  the  I'rcsbyterians,  especially  those  who  canio 
from  Congregationalism,  had  beeomi^  enamored  with  the 
iuiitations  and  other  poi'tieal  eil'usions  of  the  Ifev.  Dr. 
NV^atts,  which,  witlwi  breadth  and  a  dei)th  ec^ual  to  all 
measures  of  hell,  niiiintained  that 

"  Christ  came  to  make  his  hlessings  How 
Far  as  the  curse  is  foiuul." 

His  poetry  formed  a  rapid  diffusive  stimulant  for  "  divers 
and  strange  doctrines." 

To  counteract,  so  far  as  ])ossihle,  the  effects  of  the  doc- 
trine of  universal  salvation,  tiie  Presbytery  emitted  their 
Ih'^tiniony,  with  what  salutary  effect  we  cannot  at  this  dis- 
tant period  of  time  determine.  It,  however,  showed  how 
they  endeavored  t(^  "take  heed  to  tiie  ilock." 

Reading  material  did  not  then  abound,  and  Presbyteri- 
ans in  New  England  did  not  often  emj)loy  the  ])ress  in 
that  generation.  The  almost  only  excei)tion  Avas  a  publi- 
cation by  the  Pr(>sbyterv,  an  anii)liflcalion  of  their  testi- 
mony, imder  a  ])i'euhar  title  which  read  thus: 

''Bath  Kol,  a  voice  from  the  wildern(\^s.  Being  an  hum- 
ble attempt  to  su])poi-t  tl  e  linking  truths  of  (Jod  against 
some  of  the  i)rincipal  errors  raging  at  this  time.  Or.  a 
joint  testimony  to  tlu>  churches  under  their  care.  IW  the 
Presbytery  of  the  ICiistward.  Boston:  N.  ("overly,  1788." 

They  begin  Avith  Deism  and  Origenism  as  lying  nearest 
the  root  of  all  impiety  and  wickedness  now  leading  the 
fashions  in  ])laces  of  pulilic  resort.  Then  an  incjuiry  into 
causes  which  have  brought  down  these  judgments  on  the 
church.  Next,  by  way  of  introduction,  they  state,  "that 
the  regard  for  rehgion  for  which  New  England  was  ouco 
distinguished,  has  now  vanished  from  among  us  in  a 
lamentable  degre(\  W'e  have  sutlen^d  eight  years  of  war. 
and  for  this  awful  cakunity  there  are  moral  causes. 

"Never  was  the  public  worship  of  God  as  generally 
voted  away  as  at  the  present.     Many  grudging  the  ex- 


IN    NEW   ENGLAND. 


227 


•ss  in 
mitli- 
tc'^ti- 

lumi- 

Or.  a 

83." 
|-n>aropt 
111!  the 
I'V  into 
Ion  the 
tluit 
is  once 
Is  in  a 
dI'  w:''i'- 

IncrallY 
[he  ex- 


pcnsc  of  supporting]!;  it,  liavo  dismissed  God's  ambassadors 
ami  locked  up  the  doors  of  his  hous(\  Others  have  ex- 
changed a  learniMl,  godly  ministry  tV)r  iixnorant  fanatical 
intruders,  merely  Ix^canse  they  jjri'tend  to  deal  out  to  thiMii 
their  wild  and  indit^^ested  elVusions  without  salary,  while 
of  th(!  remaiiuler  amon;f  whom  their  minisU-rs  still  mako 
a  shift  to  continue,  the  ^greatest  numhcr  seldom  atttaid,  and 
not  a  small  proi)ortion  of  those  who  attend  pass  the  sacred 
hours  of  worship  in  saunterin_Lr,  <:a/.inir,  dozinii;  and  sneer- 
in,^.  Family  worship  is  a  stranucr  to  the  dwellinus  of 
thousands.     Sahhath  profanation  ahounds  on  wharves,  in 


eoll'ce-houses  an( 

5 


HI  sots  holes,  and  the  answer  is:  '  tis 
Av;ir  times.'  Country  youtli  learn  i)rofanation  on  boaril 
of  i)riv;itcers  and  in  the  camps. 

"  Benevolence  is  not  cultivated  now.  Intcmi)eranco  sends 
man  helow  the  brutal  hertl.  Multitudes  of  men  each  year 
are  destroyed  by  it,  and  women  take  it  too. 

'"Anti-nuptial  offences  are  almost  forj>otten  to  be  a  crime. 
Adultery  increases;  vile  books  are  priutetl  and  read  with 
avidity ;  extortion,  theft,  fraud  and  lying  increasingly 
abound. 

•'  It  is  in  view  of  this  alarming  state  of  things  among  us 
that  we  have  ventured  to  deliver  our  souls  in  the  follow- 
ing testimony,  and  to  that  step  we  judged  ourselves  bound 
at  this  time,  for  the  following  reasons.  Nothing  of  this 
kind  has  come  to  our  knowledge  from  any  (piarter  in  the 
l;nul — not  from  Presbyteries  and  Synods,  nor  associations 
and  conventions." 

These  "reasons''  show  a  lamentably  cold  state  of  zeal 
for  the  interests  of  gotUiness  when  none  among  professors 
of  religion,  and  they  were  then  in  the  land  nominally 
nearly  all  evangelical,  could  be  found  to  lift  \\\)  their  voice 
ill  warning  and  remonstrance. 

The  moral  sentiment  of  th(>  church  seems  to  have  fallen 
from  what  it  was  before  the  war,  when,  on  iMay  2()th,  1771, 
the  Rev.  D.  Mcdregor,  at  Seabrook,  jireached  from  Joel 
ii.l7. 

These  twelve  years,  from  1771  till  1783,  sliow  not  only 
the  eil'ects  (jf  a  desolating  war,  but  also  the  worth lessne.ss 
of  a  State  religion  in  supporting  godliness  and  good  morals. 
The  earlier  way  of  publicly  prol'essing  faith  in  Christ  as 
"the  Redeemer  of  God's  elect,"  and  then  from  faith  in  him 


lis 


228 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


m 


and  love  to  him,  "living  soberly,  righteously  iind  godly  "  as 
his  peojtle,  had  now  measurably  jjassed  away.  Hence  the 
description  of  society  in  New  England  here  given. 

In  their  Balk  Kol  (a  voice  from  tlie  wilderness)  the 
Presbytery  now  take  under  notice  a  wide  field,  from  which 
I  select  a  few  items,  such  as:  "Plymouth  colony  was 
erected  by  letters  patent  from  King  James  I.,  Ai)ril  lOih, 
IGOG,  for  the  purpose  of  planting  and  ruling  the  t(>rritory 
(then  called  Northern  \'irginia j,  now  called  New  England, 
which  liad  been  disc(}vcrcd  by  Partholomew  Gosnold  on 
May  11th,  1G02.  This  society  consist<'d  of  a  number  of 
nobility  and  gentry,  but  ibr  fourteen  years  gath(>r  fish  and 
fur  was  all  they  did.  Money  was,  on  tlie  whole,  their 
object,  and  money  was  the  snare  in  which  their  scheme 
■was  entangled  and  lost;  for  a  Cajjlain  Hunt,  in  their  em- 
ploy, carried  off  twenty-seven  Indians  and  sold  them  in 
Spain  for  £20  sterling  each.  This  innn<'diately  broke  olf 
their  commerce  with  the  Indians.  (P.  'lb.)  A  colony  of 
French  Protestants  went  to  Brazil  about  IGTO,  and  had 
seventy-five  ministers  from  GenL-va,  l)Ut  they  faile(l. 

Eliot  saw  twenty-four  Indian  congregations  with  twenty- 
four  Indian  ministers. 

The  Baptists  began  at  Swanzey  and  at  Boston  in  IGGo, 
and  were  condenmed  by  a  Synod  in  1G79.  Quakers  began 
in  IGoG. 

For  witchcraft  nineteen  were  executed  between  1648  and 
1G92.     Revival  from  1739  till  1744. 

2Gth  of  January,  1744,  war  on  Louisburgh  was  carried 
by  one  of  a  majority  in  Boston  Cieneral  Court. 

From  these  and  various  other  topics,  apparently  totally 
disconnected,  somewhat  after  the  manner  of  "  Mather's 
"\\^onder-\\"orking  Providence,"  they  trace  a  connection  be- 
tween moral  wrong-doing  and  calamity  under  I)iviu(; 
providence,  and  state  that  "  ungodliness  had  now  l)een  in- 
creasing for  twenty  years,"  and  as  an  evidence,  if  not  a 
cause,  an  effect  of  it,  "Arminianism  "  has  (had  then)  now 
"become  respectable."     Think  of  this! 

Their  Bath  Kol  they  ])ublished  in  an  octavo  form.  So 
they  describe  it.  By  ret]uest,  the  Rev.  Robert  Annan,  of 
Long  Lane,  did  the  proof-reading. 

Notwithstanding  their  diligence  in  spreading  before  tiieir 
people  through  the  ,pr(jss  their  testimony  iu  Bath  Kol,  in- 


i< 


IN   NEW   ENGLAND. 


229 


dividuals,  with  an  inconsistency  usually  in  keeping  with 
attachment  t(^  error,  imagined  tliat  they  could  deny  the 
trutli  of  the  stantlards  of  the  cliurch  and  still  (so  far  as 
they  pleased)  enjoy  full  ])rivileges  as  memhers.  This  was 
attem{)ted  hy  individuals  in  Ne\vl)uryj)ort.  They  "were 
not  free  to  profess  their  l)elief  of  tiie  future  eternity  of 
hell  torments,"  and  yet  claimed  "all  the  special  i)riviieges 
of  Christians." 

"After  serious  consideration"  of  a  communication  from 
the  session  of  s.'iid  church,  the  Preshytery  at  Derry,  Sep- 
tember 13th,  1785,  say,  "  We  cannot  see  how  any  church 
connected  Avith  us  could,  after  the  issuing  of  our  testimony 
on  the  21st  of  May,  1783,  judicially  condemning  the  doc- 
trine of  universal  salvation,  allow  any  special  fellowship 
to  any  adherent  to  those  errors." 

"This  Presbytery,  firmly  adhering  to  our  said  public 
act,  highly  a})prove  of  the  conduct  of  the  pastor  and  ses- 
sion of  said  church  in  the  facts  stated  in  the  resolutions 
now  presented,  and  we  solemnly  enjoin  on  all  our  mem- 
bers and  all  churches  under  our  care,  to  adopt  the  same 
rule  of  conduct  towards  Origenists  which  has  been  ob- 
served ))V  these  our  brethren  in  this  case,  as  thev  would 
avoid  the  pains  of  the  discipline  of  Christ's  church  against 
schism,  heresy,  and  disorder." 

"On  motion,  Resolved,  That  in  the  present  low  state  of 
religion  among  us,  this  Presbytery  judge  that  it  is  not 
enough  to  bear  as  the}''  have  done  open  testimony  against 
errors  and  vices,  without  seriously  attempting  to  push  for- 
ward an  actual  reformation  in  the  matters  comj)]ain(  vl  of 
among  the  churches  under  our  care.  And  as  Presbyterial 
visitations  have  ever  made  a  standing  part  of  the  adminis- 
tration of  government  in  the  Presbyterian  ('hurch,  and 
have  always  been  found  to  be  a  blessed  means,  under  God, 
of  reforming  abuses  and  keei)ing  peace  and  order  in  tho 
church,  this  mode,  long  disused  by  this  body  on  account  of 
tile  pul)lic  perils  and  distresses  of  the  late  war,  ought  now 
to  he  revived  among  us  without  further  delay." 

This  duty  was  to  "be  commenced  at  next  mee'r./ir,  and 
to  be  continued  only  at  state.'.  mettJ  -.g^  until  ah  ■ ,  ->  con- 
gregations were  visited,  and  in  perfoiniing  the  ruits  laid 
down  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Church  of  Scotland 
shall  be  observed,  excepting  such  parts  as  are  local." 


^  iWWH 


• 
•• 

• 

i 

i 

i 

j 

I 

230 


HISTORY  OF  PRES.  ro'EniANISM 


This  was  a  wise  movement,  as  siieh  visitation  of  each 
church,  pastor,  ehlers,  deacons,  and  people  by  the  Presby- 
tery is  a  necessary  eh;nient  in  "takinjj;  care  of  tlie  lioiise 
of  Ct()(L"  ''Ol)ey  them  that  liave  the  rule  over  you." 
Submit  yourselves,  for  they  watch  for  your  souls  as  they 
that  must  give  an  account,  not  only  to  the  Chief  yhepherd, 
when  he  comes  from  a))ove,  but  now,  to  those  wlio  arc 
constituted  "  in  the  name  of  our  L(jrd  Jesus  Clirist,"  as 
thrones  of  judgment,  thrones  of  the  house  of  (our  New 
Testament)  David. 

In  no  other  way  can  delinquencies  be  so  completely 
reached  and  the  church  kei)t  pure,  vital,  active,  and  ag- 
gressive as  by  sworn  official  watch  of  all  its  members, 
rulers  and  ruled. 

If  this  course  were  pursued  by  every  Presbytery  at  each 
stated  meeting,  "  pare  and  undefiled  religion "  would, 
under  the  Divine  blessing,  see  brighter  days  than  the 
visible  church  has  yet  seen.  Where  the  pastor  teaches 
publicly  and  from  house  to  house,  where  the  elders  bear 
rule  well,  where  those  who  are  "over  the  outward  thin;j;s 
of  the  house  of  God  "  use  the  office  of  a  deacon  well,  they 
individually,  in  their  respective  relations,  purchase  to 
themselves  a  good  degree  and  great  b(^l(ln(>s3  in  the  faith." 
Individual  members  and  pnrents  thus  seeing  those  who 
are  over  them  in  the  I;ord  examined,  not  only  become 
divested  of  any  i)etty  jealousy  of  feeling,  but  learn  to  sus- 
tain with  pleasure  their  spiritual  guides  and  overseers  in 
every  department  of  demanded  duty  ;  while  children  be- 
come increasingly  accustomed  to  them,  and,  by  the  obser- 
vation of  such  visitations,  more  familiar  with  the  bulwarks 
of  the  church,  and  learn  to  go  (not  to  be  driven)  "  by  the 
footsteps  of  the  flock." 

That  is  not  all.  Such  official  duty  has, the  promise  of 
an  efficacious  blessing.  "  Occupy,"  "  Be  thou  faithful  .  .  . 
and  I  will  give,"  "  Digging  about  and  dunging,"  is  the 
only  sure  way  to  productiveness  and  abundance.  (Acts 
XX.  28.) 


IN   NEW   ENGLAND. 


231 


CHAPTER  X. 

1708-1793 — IIow  were  the  means  of  grace  relished? — A  revival — Pres- 
bytery of  (iraftoii — A  letter  to — Wliat  rcsjponse  we  know  not — 
"Hoitcs  to  be  excused" — Odiorne — The  State  religion  "the  most 
lionorablest" — D.  F.  Williams'  dwliiiature — "Not  consistent  with 
our  principles" — Visitation — lIow  conducted,  shewn — A  decisive 
part — Congii.  stimulated — Innovations — Principle  had  not  yet  evapo- 
rated— The  Precentor — E'resbytery  recommended — Delusions  and  dc- 
tihng  sins — A  Fast-Day — Observed  November,  1780 — Jeremiah  Pear- 
sous  informs  Rev.  J.  Chandler  about  their  receiving  Murray — Things 
tliat  were  ready  to  die  in  Church  and  Town — Hence  letter  to  Sea- 
brook  Congn.,  1788— The  people  obeyed  the  Presbytery  and  pros- 
pered— Rev.  Thos.  Hiijbert  from  bail  to  worse — His  lawsuit — De- 
posed and  excommunicated — An  imicpie  scene — Washington  goes 
"down  East" — The  Presbytery  address  him — His  answer — The 
stigma — Murray's  usefulness  limited  by  it — The  three  Presbyteries — 
Three  Churches — Rev.  8.  Williams  anxious— lie  wrote  earnestly  to 
Mr.  M.  to  seek  rccoticiliation  with  the  Philadelphia  Presbytery — Mr. 
M.  persisted  in  denying  the  forgery — Atkinson  and  Moore  licensed — 
Mr.  Jona.  I5rown  i)romised  So.OO  per  Sabbath  and  his  ferryage — 
Death  of  Rev.  William  Davidson,  Feb.  lo,  1791 — His  character — 
Miuitles  now  worn  by  natives — Pungent  letter  to  Seabrook — Its  effects 
— Lust  meeting  of  the  Presbytery  at  Eastward,  of  which  we  iiave 
records  there,  June  13,  1792— First  Church,  Derry,  ask  supply — But 
they  object  to  Jona.  Brown — Broadstreet  examined  and  approved- 
Win.  Pigeon  recommended  as  a  Bursar — Tiie  proposals  for  a  union  of 
Presbyteries  considered,  and  (Commissioners  appointed  to  meet  the 
Conniiissioners  of  the  other  Presbyteries  at  Dartmouth  on  the  23d 
of  August,  1792 — Adjourned  to  meet  in  New  Market,  on  October  4tli, 
1792 — A  recapitulation — Regular  meetings  of  this  Presbytery  held  for 
a  lew  years,  but  how  long  is  uncertain. 

In  tracing  our  ecclesiastical  ])olitios,  it  is  a  matter  of  the 
hiuhcst  importance  (and  one  which  we  can  only  reach  ap- 
proximately) to  ascertain  with  what  lite  the  means  of 
P'ace,  where  they  were  enjoyed,  were  relished.  "  The  cares 
of  tiie  world,  the  deceitfulness  of  riches,  and  the  lust  of 
other  thintrs  entering  in,  choke  the  word,  and  it  becometh 
unfruitful." 


Pi 


'!  'S 


:l 


Hlf 


II 


I  i 


232 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


Wc  have  seen  in  n  former  crencration  liow  it  was  in  Lon- 
donderry and  elsewhere,  while  the  ntterances  of  BdtJi  Kol 
are  disc()urajj;in^',  indicating  an  extensive  destitution  of 
those  "  Avorks  of  righteousness  "  whose  "  fruit  is  unto  holi- 
ness." 

This  is  noticed  in  connection  Avith  a  statement  in  the 
following  letter,  in  which  we  tind  that  a  nn'ival  was  expe- 
rienced in  the  interior  parts  of  New  IIani])shire,  and  that, 
as  a  (lonsequence,  a  Preshyterv  iiad  heen  there  formed. 

it  is  dated  at  Londonderry  on  Se})tend)er  l-'Uh,  ITSo, 
"To  the  Rev.  Presbytery  of  (irafton,  the  first  Preshytery 
of  the  Eastward,  wish  grace,  mercy  and  jjcace,  etc.,  etc. ; 

^'Rev.  and  dearhj  beloved  in  the  Lord : — Animated,  we  trust, 
hy  a  dutiful  zeal  for  tlu;  faith  and  order  of  the  gospel, 
which,  with  pain,  we  behold  lameritably  set  aside  by  too 
many  of  all  ranks  among  us."  They  now  state  the  cir- 
emnstances  of  their  organization  ;  the  name  of  their  Pres- 
bytery, their  standards  i\s  to  doctrine,  government  aiid 
discipline,  ignoring  their  matter  and  form  of  worshij). 
"Conducted  by  this  platform,  through  the  indulgence  of 
Zion's  King,  we  have  maintained  brotherly  love  among 
ourselves,  peace  and  order  in  the  churches  under  our  care, 
and  have  received  various  additions  of  ministers  and 
churches  to  our  number  from  time  to  time. 

"Beside  the  organized  churches  which  compose  our 
body,  a  great  number  of  towns  and  settlements  in  tiiis  ex- 
tensive eastern  region  a])ply  to  us  for  supi)lies  of  tlie  gos- 
pel. To  the  utmost  of  our  ])o\ver  we  have  endeavored  to 
answer  their  calls;  and  had  we  candidates  suHicient  for 
our  vacancies,  we  should  not  doubt  but  by  the  blessing  of 
God,  in  a  very  short  time  to  see  Presbyterian  churches 
planted  throughout  the  Eastward.  To  this  happy  event 
nothing  has  been  a  greater  obstruction  than  the  want  of 
visible  union  among  Presbyterians.  To  form  a  counter- 
poise to  this,  it  has  been  '  as  cold  watcn-  to  the  thirsty  soul,' 
to  hear  that  the  Lord  hatli  been  ])()uring  out  his  Spirit  on 
his  ministers  and  churches  in  the;  interior  ])arts  of  this 
State,  and  that  a  goodly  nund^er  of  tiiem  have  been  thereby 
moved  to  revive  the  ancient  and  scriptural  form  of  govern- 
ment in  that  country,  and  have  actually  formed  them- 
selves into  a  regular  Presbytery,  and  walk  together  in  the 
faith  and  order  of  the  gospel. 


IN   NKW   ENGLAND. 


233 


"  This  Prosbyteiy  rojoicc  to  tnko  this  opportunity  to 
ojfcii  a  tVicndly  corrospondciicc  with  you.  as  a  sister  judi- 
catory in  Christ's  liousc,  and  as  such,  to  otl'or  to  you  tho 
ri^lit  hand  of  trllowsliip.  To  make  these  our  s(>ntiinents 
known  to  your  reverend  body,  and  in  our  luuv.e  to  nejioti- 
ate  wiiatever  niav  \)v  necessary  ibr  the  union  and   h 


ar- 


mony  of  this  part  of  Clirist's  mystical  body  among  us,  "\ve 
liave  sent  a  worthy  nienil)er  of  this  Presbytery,  commis- 
sioned and  instructed  for  that  ])uri)oso, 

'■  We  rcMpiest  you  charital)ly  to  receive  liim  in  the  Lord 
as  our  own  souls,  to  uive  full  crecU'nce  to  him  as  our  repre- 
sentative, and  treat  with  him  as  you  would  with  us  if  ])er- 

lally   present.      lleguing    an   interest  in  your  prayers, 


SOI 


wislnng  vou 


needed  grace  and  all  desirable  success  in 
the  gospel  vineyard,  witli  great  veneration  and  afi'ection- 
ate  esteem,  we  are,  etc.,  etc." 

Whetlier  any  and  wdiat  response  was  returned  to  this 
letter  we  know  not,  Init  negotiations  for  union  were  for 
years  continued.  It  also  brings  out  the  real  existence  of 
Grafton  Presbytery. 

From  Iragnii  iitary  minutes  we  are  able  to  trace  the 
doings  of  this  Presbytery  a  few  y(,'ars  longer. 

At  Amesbury.  .June  7th,  178G,  there  were  present  Revs. 
J()se[)h  ]*rince,  Thomas  Ilibbard  and  Simon  Williams, 
with  i<]lders  Jonat!)an  King,  Ivlward  Harris,  Deacon 
Tukesbury  and  John  Moulton,  Esq.  xVbsent — Revs.  \\'il- 
liaiii  Davidson,  Solomon  Moore,  John  Murray  and  Na- 
thani(>l  Ewer. 

In  answer  to  ii  ])etition  from  Boothbay,  Presbytery  de- 
(>ired  their  candidate,  Mr.  (ililbert  T.  Williams,  to  go,  but 
he  re(|uested  the  Presbytery  to  "indulge  him,  as  he  finds 
a  <iveat  reluctance  in  taking  such  a  journey  "  even  in  sum- 
mer, as  I'ar  as  from  ^\'indllam,  N.  II.,  to  Roothbay  in 
Maine,  therefore  he  "  hojies  to  ho.  excused." 

''Send,  Lord,  by  whom  tluni  wilt  send."  I  cannot  "en- 
dure hardness,"  much  less  "all  things  for  the  elect's  sake, 
that  tlu'y  may  also  obtain  the  salvation  that  is  in  Christ 
Jesus  with  eternal  glory." 

Having  declined  going,  he  was  "  appointed  to  su])ply  tho 
vacanci(>s  in  these  parts  at  his  own  discretion."  Plis  Pres- 
hyterianism  was  too  feeble  to  resist  his  surroundings,  and 
liis  proclivities  run  to  Congregationalism. 


.1 

r 

m 


234 


IIISTOUY  OF  pukshytehiamsm 


I 


w^ 


Presbytery  had  control  of  tlio  taxes  for  the  supjiort  of 
the  j)arish  ii  •"''•^^or  in  only  ;t  few  towns.  "  The  loiives  and 
iish(>s"  WO'  a  then,  to  some  minds  (indebted  to  Prcs- 

bytcriani'  all    their  moral   worth  and    consequent 

])rosper  i  more  importance  than  the  dictates  of  <:rati- 

tiide.  the  old  Swiss  ^'cntlonian,  Odiorne  of  Ifalifax, 

Nova  bi^wtia,  when  with  his  dan«ihter,  who,  after  her  mar- 
riajj;c,  went  with  her  husband  (a  son  of  the  Attorney-(!en- 
eral  of  th(;  Province)  to  tiie  Episcopal  ciuirch,  and  when 
an  elder  remonstrated  witii  him,  sayin<jj, '' why  do  you 
leave  our  church,  do  you  not  know  that  the  Presbyterian 
is  the  best  reli^don?''  "Oh,"  says  he,  "  the  Presbyterian 
relif^ion  is  the  best  religion,  but  the  Ciiurch  of  England  is 
the  most  honorabk^st."  So  it  was  with  McKcen  and  the 
Williams  as  Pursars.  The  State  religion  was  in  their 
estimation  ''  the  most  honorablest,"  and  to  it  they  went. 

October  oth,  178G.  "Presbytery  proceeded  in  the  busi- 
ness of  tiie  visitation  of  this  church  (Newburyport).  The 
pastor  being  withdrawn  the  elders  were  examined  accord- 
ing to  the  rules  about  the  })astor,  and  then  the  elders  l)eing 
withdrawn  the  ]iastor  was  examined  as  to  the  session  and 
church  ;  a  full  statement  of  the  order,  government  and  dis- 
cipline thereof  was  laid  before  us,  and  on  the  whole  noth- 
ing found  objected  tt>  or  complained  of,  unless  that  the 
pastor  in  session  confined  himself  solely  to  the  ])lace  of 
moderator  and  executive  oflicer  without  taking  a  deciding 
part.  To  which  he  answered  by  reading  certain  instru- 
ments, which  passed  between  him,  the  session  and  church 
previous  to  his  settlement,  in  which  certain  reforms  were 
solicited  by  him  and  })romised  by  them  ;  he  withal  declared 
that  whenever  these  were  actually  complied  with,  he  was 
"willing  to  take  as  decisive  a  i)art  as  is  usual  for  gospel 
ministers  to  do,  but  until  then,  he  declared  himself  bound 
in  conscience  to  go  no  farther  than  he  has  done." 
"  Unanimously  ai)prove  of  the  conduct  of  said  ))astor  in 
the  j)remises  and  encourage  him  to  persevere  therein."' 
The  "go  to  let  us"  part  of  their  })olity,  in  which  their 
Presbyterianism  was  defective,  is  thus  disclosed,  while  by 
thus  "taking  heed  to  all  the  Hock,"  the  Presbytery  havo 
before  them  a  reliable  knowledge  of  their  average  spiritual 
condition.  The  congregation  in  the  meantime  are  stimu- 
lated to  higher  attainments  in  the  Divine  life,  and  see 


IN   NEW  KNGLAND. 


235 


more  cxtrnsivdy  tho  rosponsiljility  of  thoso  who  watrli  for 
their  souls  and  i-csolvc  to  hokl  them  more  "hij^hly  iu  lovu 
for  then-  work's  sake." 

l*ro  re  natd  at  liondonderry,  Novcmher  ^)th,  ITSIj.  A 
rcinoMstranee  from  the  session  of  Louilonderry,  si.uned  hy 
eleven  rulin<f  elders,  in  refereneo  to  innovations  introdueiMl 
1)V  a  party  in  relation  to  the  manner  of  sinujinif  in  the 
ciuirch  was  now  suhnntt(Ml.  'J'ho  Sci)teh-lrish  Presl)yt«'- 
rian  hlood  and  jjrinciple  had  not  yet  evaporated,  eonse- 
((Uently  they  sun^  ])salms.  lUit  tlie  style  had  heec^me  all 
iin])ortant  with  a  l)r.  Isaac  Thom  and  some  of  the  ])arish. 
When  forhidden  l)y  their  a<,a>(l  ])astor  to  disturh  further 
the  ))eaee  of  the  church,  they  rehelled,  and  persevered  iu 
their  innovations. 

In  times  i)ast,  the  ])reccntor  had  stood  in  his  desk  faciuf? 
the  conp'e<Tation,  so  that  his  countenance  as  well  as  that 
of  the  minister  mi<:ht  he  seen,  and  draw  the  sym|)athy  and 
co-operation  of  his  fell()w-worshi})pers  ;  hut  in  the  surround- 
ing regions  this  decent  and  time-honoreil  Scriptural  order 
had  been  supplanted  by  pitch  pipes,  gallery  singing,  and 
tunes  not  only  n(nv  to  tho  aged,  hut  unsuitable  for  the 
praise  of  God,  with  his  "sweet  psalms." 

The  casting  away  of  the  "Bay  State  Psalter"  and  the 
introduction  for  nearly  a  generation  of  the  "  Imitations '' 
had  trained  the  sentimental  New  England  mind  for  new 
usages,  and  the  good  "  ould  twelve  tniies,  which,"  in  slang 
phraseology,  "the  Lord  made  in  Ireland,"  now,  like  John 
Barleycorn,  "  must  die." 

Upon  '' ])articular  incpiiry,  it  was  found  that  neither  the 
elders  nor  Dr.  Thom  were  clothed  with  proper  authority  to 
represent  their  respective  parties.  Therefore  the  Presby- 
tery resolved,  that  they  cannot  constitutionally  jtroceed  to 
hear  and  judge  on  the  merits  of  this  cause  at  this  time, 
and  they  earnestly  recommend  it  to  l)oth  parties  to  forbear 
all  animosities  and  contentions  on  this  subjec^t,  and  to  ex- 
ercise forbearance  and  Christian  candor  on  i)oth  sides  until 
Ave  have  o|)portunity  to  determine  the  case  regularly  in  a 
judicial  way." 

Newbury})ort,  October  r)th,  1780.  "Taking  into  serious 
consideration  the  manifold  delusions  and  land-deliling 
sins  now  prevailing  in  this  land,  and  the  awful  })ublic 
frowns  and  judgments  of  Almighty  God  now  justly  pour- 


■  M 


I 


23G 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTKIIIANISM 


ini?  out  upon  it,  in  the  liimontablo  state  of  our  public 
iili'airh!,  I'n.'shytcry  a<;r('c  that  tho  (irst  Tuosday  of  Novem- 
ber next  be  set  apart  and  observed  in  all  the  eoni;re<;ations 
under  our  care  as  a  day  of  fasting,  humiliation  and  prayer, 
that  we  and  our  people  may  then  put)liely  confess  our  sins 
and  imi)lore  tlie  (lod  of  all  ;:;race  to  avert  the  judgments 
which  he  is  now  threatening  and  we  as  a  people  justly 
deserve." 

So  far  as  is  known,  that  day  was  duly  observed. 

At  Topsham,  June  loth,  1787,  an  "elder  from  l>()othl)ay 
expressed  the  desire  of  that  congregation  to  receive  a  can- 
didate, who  has  a  view  to  settlement." 

Tiieir  next  meeting  was  at  Seal>rook,  ()eto})er  17th,  1787. 
Murray,  Prince,  Ewer,  and  Thos.  lliljbard  present,  with 
six  elders. 

On  August  25th,  1787,  a  Rev.  Jas.  Chandler  wrote  to  an 
elder  (Jeremiah  Pearson)  in  Newbury  port,  to  "  know  upon 
what  grounds  they  had  received  Mr.  Murray  "  as  |)astor, 
as  lie  had  seen  the  character  of  him  given  by  the  first 
Presbytery  of  Philadelphia;  and  received  the  following 
reply ; 

"Principally  these:  Beside  his  appeal  to  an  impartial 

Eublic,  arc  his  examination  and  confession  before  his  Prcs- 
ytery ;  his  letter  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Parsons,  in  which  is  con- 
tained such  a  confession  as  satisfied  the  Boston  Presbytery 
when  read  at  their  session  both  at  Palmer  and  at  Salem, 
and  satisfied  our  church  ;  his  trans])ortation  from  Booth- 
bay  to  this  place  by  the  Presbytery  of  wliich  those 
churches  are  members  ;  to  which  might  be  added,  his  being 
one  of  the  greatest  Calvinistic  divines  of  the  age — a  mirror 
of  patience,  of  a  godly  life  and  conversation  during  his 
residence  at  the  Eastward — are  some  of  the  grounds  upon 
which  he  was  received  by  our  church.  Sir,  I  might  give 
many  more." 

At  Candia,  June  11th,  1788.  Present,  Prince,  Ewer, 
Williams,  Sol.  Moore,  Robt.  Moore,  John  Murray,  and 
seven  elders.  Oi>ene(l  wdth  a  sermon  by  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Moore  on  "Effectual  Calling"  (10th  chap.  Conf.  of  Faitli). 
By  this  time  some  of  their  congregations  were  becoming 
like  the  seven  churches  in  lesser  Asia.  They  had  things 
which  were  "  ready  to  die,"  where  the  church  and  town 
Jiad  alike  sunk  into  indifference,  and  to  which  they  gave 


IX    NEW    ENGLAND. 


237 


oflfioi.ll  attontion.     Honoe  tlie  following;  from  the  pointed 
and  proliiic  \)vn  of  Murray  to  tlu' cliurcii  and  congregation 
of  Srabrook,  dated  N('\vl»ury})ort,  July  oth,  1788: 
"  Dearly  Ijcloved  in  the  Lord  : 

"It  is  with  much  rchictance  and  regret  that  I  am  now 
obliged  to  sit  down  to  the  painful  task  of  sencHng  to  you  a 
letter  of  re)>roof  an<l  admonition,  in  the  nanie  of  the  Rev. 
J*resl)yt(,'ry  under  whose  care  you  are  placed,  for  the  long 
sinful  neglect  of  seeking  for  the  public  means  of  grace  for 
your  congregation. 

'"At  the  last  meeting  of  Presbytery,  when,  in  the  course 
of  their  in([uiries  into  i\\c  state  of  the  churches  under 
their  care,  they  found  that,  after  all  that  had  been  said  oh 
that  matter  at  Seabrook.  yet  no  steps  h;ive  been  taken  on 
your  ])art  to  obtain  even  occasional  sujiplies  for  the  j)ulpit 
since  that  time ;  the  information  was  received  with  equal 
horror  and  surprise. 

''Considering  themselves  as  a  judicatory  bound  to  watch 
over  you  for  good,  th(>y  thought  they  could  not  accpiit 
themselves  to  their  own  consciences,  nor  to  the  great  Head 
of  the  church,  if  they  continued  any  longer  to  stand  by, 
and  by  their  silence  seem  to  connive  at  so  open  and  de- 
liberate a  neglect  of  Christ  and  of  his  gos])el. 

"Therefore,  to  discharge  the  part  of  faitliful  friends  and 
watchmen  towards  you,  they  ordered  their  clerk  to  testify 
to  you,  in  their  name,  that  this  practice  is  e<iually  dishon- 
orable to  religion  and  dangerous  to  your  own  souls.  They 
beseech  you  as  brethren  to  consider  wliat  an  aspect  that 
church  must  have,  that  professes  the  Christian  religion,  is 
planted  in  a  Christian  land  Avhere  the  means  of  grace  are 
plenty  and  the  fullest  lilierty  to  enjoy  them  indulged,  and 
yet  continues  quiet  and  easy  from  year  to  year  without 
sermons,  without  sacraments,  with  the  house  of  the  Lord 
shut  up  and  lying  waste. 

"  They  intreat  you  to  recollect  that,  in  the  meanwhile, 
time  is  wasting ;  death  is  hastening  on  ;  the  awful  day  of 
accounts  drawing  near;  and  that  when  it  arrives  it  will  be 
an  unavailing  plea  to  say  your  parish  was  ])Oor,  since  that 
God,  who  provid(;(l  you  with  that  little,  will  surely  assert 
his  right  to  require  some  part  of  it  for  his  own  service. 

"  They  wish  you  to  reflect  whether  the  continuanc«j  of 
that  poverty  may  not  be  a  judgment  for  tiiis  habitual  pub- 


■i 


'■»■ 


238 


IIISTOUV   OF   PRKSnYTEUIANISM 


lie  contonij»t  of  his  word,  nnd  wliotlicr  it  is  not  prohnlilo 
that  your  jx-r.^islint:  in  thiit  sin  may  i)rovulvi;  thi;  l.oni  to 
inllict  yet  soror  jud^'nicnts ;  whether  it  docs  not  tend  to 
l)rin<;  up  your  chiith-eu  in  fatal  i;ji;uoranee  of  (iod,  and  to 
nialvi!  way  lor  (h'isni,  infuh'lity.  and  atiirisni  itself,  to  taki' 
their  full  sweep  anions-  the  risin^^  j^eneration;  whethi;r,  if 
ninners  go  on  hardened  in  inipeniti  nee  and  jierish  at  last 
for  lack  of  vision,  thiiir  hlood  will  not  he  reijuired  at  vour 
hands,  and  whether,  in  that  sad  case,  the  saving  a  little 
earthly  interest  lor  your  children  and  jjosterity  will  hu 
enough  to  coinitevvail  the  damage? 

"The  I'reshytery  remonstrate  tiiose  serious  things  to  you 
with  the  sincerest  respect  and  lovo  for  your  souls.  They 
pray  you  to  take  the  warning  in  good  part,  and  giv(!  them 
the  comfort  to  know  at  their  next  meeting  that  you  are 
sincerely  resolved  on  such  a  reformation  in  this  respect  as 
may  give  them  occasion  to  rejoice  in  the  pros])ect  of  your 
finally  escaping  the  wrath  to  come. 

"As  for  myself,  you  may  be  assured  that  nothing  hut  a 
conscientious  obedience  to  tiie  solemn  injunction  of  that 
reverend  body  to  whicii  I  am  sul)ject,  could  have  i)ersuaded 
me  to  undertake  tiiis  painful  task — and  jiermit  me  to  re- 
quest that  you  believe  that  every  word  1  have  written  is 
dictated  from  the  t^incerest  desire  for  your  greati'st  happi- 
ness in  time  and  eternity,  and  thus  I  hope  to  ])e  still  con- 
sidered as,  gentlemen,  your  aflectionate  friend  and  very 
humble  servant  in  the  gospel  of  Christ." 

May  not  Presbyteries  be  found  to-day  who  recjuire  to 
profit  by  this  exai.  p^e  of  official  fidelity  where  churches 
are  allowed  to  commit  suicide  or  die  out  without  such  a 
solenm  remonstrance?  "These  (as  well  as  inspired) 
things  were  written  aforetime  for  our  learning." 

"  ilow  forcible  ^ye  right  words  !  "  Tiie  people  ob(>ycd 
them  who  had  the  rule  over  them,  resumed  })ul)lic  worship, 
and,  as  we  shall  (D.  V.)  see,  the  last  meeting  of  "the  Pres- 
bytery at  thd  Eastward,"  of  which  we  have  full  records,  was 
lield  at  Seabrook. 

Our  next  item  of  record  is  dated  "Amesbury,  Novem- 
ber Gth,  1788,  7  A.  M.  Presbytery  met  in  intedoquitur.^^ 
The  cause  of  their  meeting  was  an  aggravated  case  of 
drunkenness.  The  congregation  was  one  Avhich  had  come 
to  Presbyterianism,  and  the  habits  of  the  pastor,  the  Rev. 


IN    NEW   ENGLANP. 


239 


Thomas  TTHtliort,  liad  grown  from  ))ii(l  to  worse.  T)V  tho 
"  j);irisli  hook  ''  it  appeared  that  on  "  Dcccmhcr  l.'Jth  (  17S7), 
thiy  voted  CIS  to  he  paid  to  him  for  all  services  as  a  miii- 
isti'r,  on  condition  that  he  cancel  all  the  nunister's  tax(\s 
till  the  24th  of  May,  17<SS,  and  also  continue  to  jireach  to 
us  till  tiien."  This  was  recalled.  He  offered  to  leave  the 
matter  to  relerees.  He  proseciiti'd  them.  J)eacon  Tucker 
a,<;reed  that  tho  society  pay  their  part  of  Mr.  Hihhert's 
cliar<;es  in  ii  lawsuit  witli  tliat  parish,  accordintr  to  cove- 
nant, and  also  to  ]>ay  up  tlu;  C")!)  contained  in  the  al)ovo 
vote  and  suhscription  on  the  condition  therein  men- 
tioned. 

"  Mr.  H.  said  he  would  a<,M'ee  to  fulfil  his  part,  on  condition 
that  the  Preshytery  peaeeahly  dismiss  him.''  Instead  of 
(l(»in<:;  so,  he  was  arrai<ine"l  and  tried,  and  the  evidence  was 


only  too  conclusive.  Altera  tectious  ]iroeess,  all  parlies 
and  witnesses  i)ein<i;  heard  until  they  had  nothin*,'  to  add, 
I'reshytery  ordered  them  to  withdraw,  and  carefully 
oxamini'd  all  the  papers  left  with  them. 

''  Ilesolved  unanimously  that  the  complaint  of  intoxica- 
tion is  lully  proved,  as  were  also  two  other  charLM's,  and  they 
dciioxcd  iiim  from  the  ollice  of  the  holy  miidstry."  They 
then  declared  the  ])uli)it  vacant,  and  exhoited  the  society, 
so  soon  as  may  he,  to  ohtain  another  minister.  Is  not 
'•  wine  a  mocker  and  strong  drink  raging  "  in  view  of  such 
occurrences? 

"  The  Preshytery  gave  to  him  the  position  of  a  ])rivate 
nieinher  in  the  clinrch.  Thio  he  spurned,  and  on  April 
29th,  1780,  the  session  gave  him  till  the  last  Wednesday  in 
Juno  to  express  his  sorrow  for  his  sin.  If  then  impenitent, 
the  session  will  ask' the  Preshytery  to  rxamnnuuiratc  him, 
which  was  done  on  the  20th  day  of  July,  1789,  hy  the  ap- 
pointment of  Preshytery  hy  the  Rev.  Solomon  Moore, 
Moderator." 

From  this  humiliating  scene,  a  minister  eranmnvnicnted 
for  drunkenness,  for  indecent  conduct  in  the  house  of 'wor- 
sliij)  on  the  Lord's  day,  and  for  lying,  avc  now  turn  to  an 
'inii(|ue  occurrence — a  "Scotch- Irish  ''  church  court  in  per- 
sonal communication  with  the  ''  President  of  tho  United 
•States  of  America." 

In  October,  1789,  George  Washington  went  "  down 
East,"  and  he  who  had  "  lifted  up  his  voice  like  a  trumpet," 


•  *  • '  ■ 


240 


HISTORY    OP    PRESBYTERIAN  ISM 


I 


who  liad  Milled  succossl'iilly  "  coininilti^cs  of  snt'ctv  "  niul 
ooiistraiiu'd  iiu'U  to  fill  the  (U'|th't('d  raidvs  in  the  anuv, 
Avhosc  head  was  previously  for  years  in  the  Uritish  mar- 
ket worth  live  hundred  stcrhu^  pounds,  standini;,'  in  part 
in  the  shadow  of  tin'  then  travelK'r  himself.  ;is  "  the  lirst  in 
war,  the  lirst  in  peace ''in  the  pulpit,  and  where  he  was 
not  positively  hated,  "  the  lirst  in  the  heaiis  ol"  his  coun- 
trymen," now,  with  his  eo-preshyters,  addressi's  the  Chief 
iMayistrate  of  the  nation. 

Whiii>  the  address,  like  tlu^  clerk  who  pr(>pared  if,  mav 
be  by  some  considered  a  little  "  pompous."  those  only  who 
can  produce  one  more  ap|)ropriate  are  cntitK-d  to  cavil  at 
it.     The  criticisms  of  interior  nunds  cannot  deteiaorate  it. 

"The  Address  of  the  First  Presbytery  of  the  Ivistward  to 
(Jeor'4e  Washington,  I'resident  of  the  United  States: 
"Sir:  Wc,  the  ministers  and  ruling  elders  icsident  iu 
Massacliusells  and  \ew  Hampshire,  which  compose  '///<; 
Firnt  Prc-^hjilcni  i)J  the  Eitstnutul,''  now  holdiuij;  a.  stated  ses- 
sion in  this  town  (  Xi'wI'Ury  |iort  t,  hei:;  h'ave  to  approach 
your  presence  with  genuine  feelings  of  the  deepest  venera- 
tion and  hiuhest  esteem. 

"  We  ask  the  honor  of  a  place  amouij  (he  multitudi^s  of 
good  citi/ens  who  ai'c  amhitious  of  expi-essin^  the  heartfelt 
satisfaction  with  which  tln'v  hid  you  a  cordial  wcK'ome  to 
these  eastern  parts  ol"  your  /Government.  In  unison  with 
rejoiciuLi;  millions  w<'  felicitate  our  country  and  ourscKcs 
on  your  unaidmous  election  t(t  the  highest  ollice  which  a 
nation  can  hestow,  and  on  your  ac<'i>ptance  ol  the  trust 
with  every  evidence  which  a  citi/en  can  give  of  heini::  ac- 
tuated tlu'ret(>  hy  (he  |)un>st  principles  of  patriotism,  of 
piety  and  of  self-denial. 

"(Ireat  was  (he  joy  of  our  hearts  to  see  the  late  tedious 
and  destructive  war  at  leniith  terminated  in  a  safe  and 
honorable  peace;  to  see  the  liberty  and  indepi'ndenc(>  of 
our  country  hai)pily  siH'un'd  ;  to  see  wise  constitutions  of 
civil  government  pi>aceahly  established  in  (he  several 
States,  and  (>sj)ecially  to  see  a  confederation  of  them  all 
linally  agn-ed  on  by  the  general  voici*. 

"  Jhit  with  all  our  joy,  we  ever  contemplated  with  regret 
{lie  want  of  eHiciency  iu  (he  l^'ederal  government  ;  we 
urdeutly  wished  for  a  Ibmi  ofnutioiuil  union  which  ahould 


IN   NEW  ENGLAND. 


241 


Hvaw  tlio  cord  of  annty  more  closely  around  tlio  several 
Stntes,  coiu'cntrMte  their  separate  interests  and  reduce  tlie 
tVet'iiun  ot"  America  to  our  ^reat  body,  ruled  by  one  head 
and  animated  by  ont"  soul. 

''And  we  now  devoutly  olVer  our  hund)le  tribute  of  ]>raiso 
and  thanksaivinu"  \o  the  all  iTvaeious  Father  of  lights,  wlio 
lias  inspired  (;ur  publie  councils  with  a  wisdom  and  lirui- 
iiess  which  have  etlet'ttHl  that  desirable  purpose  in  so  <j;reat 
a  measure  by  the  ydliniidl  Coiistitntioii,  and  who  has  tixcd 
the  eyes  of  all  America  on  you  as  the  worthiest  of  its  citi- 
yA'US  to  be  entrusted  with  the  execution  of  it. 

'■  Whatever  any  may  have  supposed  wanting  in  tho 
eriginal  ]»lan,  wi;  are  hap|)y  to  llnd  so  wisely  providing  in 
its  amendments  ;  audit  is  with  peculiar  satisfaction  that 
we  behold  how  easily  thi'  entire  contideui'e  of  the  j)i'ople  in 
thi'  man  who  sits  at  the  helm  of  government  lias  eradicated 
every  remaining  objection  to  its  form. 

"Among  tluse  we  nevta*  considered  the  want  of  a  relig- 
ious test,  that  grand  engine  of  perseciUiou  in  every  tyrant's 
hand.  lUit  we  should  not  have  been  alone  in  rejoicing  to 
liave  seen  some  (\\plicit  acknowledgment'^  of  ' /Ar  duli/  true 
(uul  and  Jrsiix  ClirisI  \\\\o\n  he  hath  S(>nt '  inserted  some- 
where in  the  Magna  Charta  e)f  our  country. 

"  We  are  hai)py  to  lind,  however,  that  this  defect  has  been 
renuHlied  in  the  face  ol"  all  the  worhl  by  the  piety  and  de- 
votion in  which  your  lirst  ]»ublic  act  of  oiru'c  was  j)(M'ft)rmed 
— by  the  rcliuious  obsi'rvance  ol"  the  Sabbath  and  of  the 
])ublic  worship  of  (iod,  of  which  you  have  set  so  eminent 
an  example — and  by  the  warm  strains  of  Christian  and  de- 
vent  all'ections  which  rui\  through  your  late  proclamation 
for  a  gent'ral  thanksgiving. 

"  The  catholic  spirit  breathed  in  all  your  jmltlic  acts  sup- 
]hm1s  us  in  the  assurani'c  that  no  religious  establishments, 
no  exclusive  privileges  tending  to  elevat(>  one  denomination 
el'  Christians  to  the  depression  of  the  remainder,  can  bo 
ratilied  by  the  signature  of  the  President  during  your  ad- 
ministration. On  the  contrary,  we  bless  (Jod  that  yt)ur 
wliol(>  deportment  bids  all  tlcnominations  ctadldcntly  to 
expect  to  liud  iu  you  the  watciilul  guardian  of  their  ei|ual 


"All  (irk-uinrlt'ihiiiinil  would  pick  no  man's  pocket  and  break  no  niun's 
leu." — ( '/'/">«J«.s  Jefferson.) 
IG 


242 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


liberties,  the  steady  patron  of  genuine  Christianity,  and  the 
bright  example  of  those  peculiar  virtues  in  which  its  dis- 
tinguishing doctrines  have  their  proper  eli'ects.  Under  the 
nurturing  liand  of  a  Ruler  of  such  virtues  and  one  so  de- 
servedly revered  by  all  ranks,  we  joyfully  indulge  the  hope 
that  virtue  and  religion  will  revive  and  llourish ;  that  inti- 
delity  and  the  vices  ever  attendant  in  its  train  will  be  ban- 
ished from  every  polite  circle,  and  that  rational  piety  will 
Boon  become  fashionable  there,  and  from  thence  be  dilfused 
among  all  other  ranks  in  the  connnunity. 

"  Captivated  with  the  delightful  prospect  of  a  national 
reformation  rising  out  of  the  inlluen(;e  of  your  authority 
and  example,  we  find  the  fullest  encouragement  to  cherish 
the  hope  of  it  from  the  signal  deeds  of  pious  and  patriotic 
heroism,  which  marked  the  steps  of  'the  Father  of  his 
countr}','  from  the  nujmorahle  hour  of  his  aj)j)earance  in 
Congress,  to  declare  the  disinterested  views  with  which  he 
accepted  the  connnand  of  her  armies,  to  that  hour  not  less 
memorable,  when,  having  gloriously  acquitted  himself  in 
that  important  trust  and  C(^m[)letely  accomplished  tiie  de- 
sign of  it,  he  ajjpeared  in  the  same  great  Assembly  again, 
and  resigned  his  commission  into  the  hands  that  gave  it. 

"  But  glorious  as  your  course  has  been  as  a  soldier  in 
arms,  defending  your  country  and  the  rights  of  mankind, 
we  exult  in  the  presage,  tiuit  it  will  l)e  far  outshone  by  the 
superior  lustre  of  a  more  glorious  career  now  before  you 
as  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  our  nation,  protecting  by  just 
and  merciful  laws  and  by  a  wise,  firm  and  temperate  exe- 
cution of  them,  enhancing  the  value  of  those  inestimai)le 
rights  and  })rivileges  which  you  have  so  worthily  asserted 
to  it  by  your  sword. 

"  Permit  us  then,  Great  Sir,  to  assure  you,  that  while  it 
ever  shall  be  our  care  in  our  several  places,  to  inculcate  on 
our  people  those  ]>rincii)les  drawn  from  tlie  pure  fountain 
of  light  and  truth  in  the  sacred  Scriptures,  which  can  best 
recommend  your  virtues  to  their  ijnitation,  and  which,  if 
generally  obeyed,  would  contribute  ess'Uitially  to  render 
your  people  hapi)y  and  your  government  prosperous ;  our 
unceasing  prayer  to  tiie  Great  Sovereign  of  all  nations  shall 
be  that  your  i4nportan.t  life  and  all  your  singular  talents, 
may  be  the  special  care  of  an  indulgent  Providence  for 
many  years  to  come;  that  your  administration  may  be 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


243 


continued  to  your  country  under  the  peculiar  smiles  of 
hetu'cn,  long  enouc^h  to  advance  the  interests  of  learning 
to  the  zenith ;  to  carry  the  arts  and  sciences  to  their 
destined  i)eriection  ;  to  chase  ignoranee,  bigotry  and  im- 
morality ott'  the  stage;  to  restore  true  virtue  and  the  reli- 
gion of  Jesus  to  their  deserved  throne  in  our  land,  and  to 
found  tlie  liherties  of  America,  both  religious  and  civil,  on 
a  basis  which  no  era  of  futurity  shall  ever  see  removed; 
and,  linally,  that  when  you  have  thus  done,  free  grace 
mav  confer  on  vou,  as  the  reward  of  all  vour  i>reat  labors, 
the  unfading  laurels  of  an  everlasting  crown. 

"•Signed  in  tiie  name,  presence,  and  on  behalf  of  the 
First  Tresbytery  of  the  Eastward. 

"  Joseph  Prince,  Moderator. 

"  John  Murhav,  Pres.  Clerk." 


ltKW( 


The  President's  answer  to  the  above  address : 

To  the  ^Ministers  and  Ruling  Elders  delegated  to  represent 
the  churclies  in  Massachusetts  and  New  llam)>shire, 
which  compose  the  First  Presbytery  of  the  Eastward. 

"Gentlemen:  The  affectionate  welcome  whicli  you  aie 
pleased  to  give  me  to  the  eastern  part  of  this  I'nion,  would 
leave  me  without  excuse  did  I  fail  to  acknowledge  the 
sensibilit}'  it  awakens,  and  to  exi)ress  the  most  sincere  re- 
turn that  a  grateful  sense  of  your  goodness  can  suggest. 
To  he  ai){)roved  by  the  praiseworthy,  is  a  wish  as  natural 
to  l)econnng  ambition  as  its  conseciuence  is  flattering  to 
self-love.  I  am.  indeed,  much  indel)ted  to  the  favorable 
sentiments  which  you  entertain  towards  me,  and  it  will  be 
my  study  to  deserve  them. 

"The  tribute  of  thanksgiving  which  you  offer  to  the 
gracious  Father  of  lights,  for  his  inspiration  of  our  public 
councils  with  wisdom  and  firmness  to  complete  the  na- 
tional Constitution,  is  worthy  of  nu^n  who,  devoted  to  the 
pious  purposes  of  religion,  desire  their  accom])lishment  by 
such  means  as  advance  the  temporal  ha|>pincss  of  man- 
kind. 

'"And  here,  1  am  jiersuaded,  you  will  permit  me  to  ob- 
serve, that  the  path  of  true  piety  is  so  ])lain  as  to  require 
but  little  political  attention.    To  this  consideration  we 


m 


'rnr^T- 


244 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


Guji^ht  to  ascribe  the  absence  of  any  regulation  respecting 
religion  from  tlie  Magna  Charta  of  our  country. 

"  To  the  guidance  of  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  this  im- 
portant o])JL'ct  is,  pcrhajis.  more  projx'rly  committed,  it 
will  be  your  care  to  instruct  the  ignorant,  to  reclaim  tlio 
devious;  and  in  the  i)rogress  of  morality  and  science,  to 
which  our  government  will  irive  every  furtherance,  we  may 
expect  confidently,  the  advancement  of  true  religion  and 
the  com])letion  of  hap})iness.  1  pray  the  munificent  re- 
warder  of  every  virtue,  that  your  agency  in  this  good  work 
may  receive  its  compensation  here  and  hereafter. 

"  George  Washington." 


<k 


i 


■s 


At  the  risk  of  being  charged  with  needless  repetitions, 
I  now  revert  to  tlie  anomalous  j)osition  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Murray.  His  usefulness  was  limited  and  his  life  made 
bitter  by  the  stigma  cast  on  his  character. 

In  Newbury  port  the  i)uli)its  were  generally  closed 
against  him,  and  some  of  the  pastors  would  not  even 
speak  to  him.  This  was  not  all.  The  union  of  the  throe 
Presbyteries — his  own,  that  of  Grafton  and  one  called  the 
Presbytery  of  Londonderry  (to  be  subsequently  noticed), 
now  became  to  him  a  matter  of  earnest  desire.  But  the 
Presbytery  at  the  Eastward,  as  well  as  Mr.  Murray  hiui- 
self,  was  denied  to  be  in  regular  standing,  and  from  it,  it 
was  feared,  that  unless  order  and  Presbyterial  harmony 
could  be  obtained,  the  three  Western  churches  would 
finally  withdraw. 

This  pressed  heavily  (among  others)  on  the  mind  of  the 
Rev.  Simon  Williams,  of  AN'indham.  He  had  borne  odiiun 
for  the  part  which  he  had  taken  in  the  installation  of  Mr. 
Murray  at  Newburyport,  and  years  did  not  diminish  it. 

He  wrote  to  the  liev.  l)r.  Robert  Smith,  of  Philadelphia, 
who  "earnestly  reconnnentled  the  jjersonal  ai)pearance  of 
!Mr.  Murrav  before  that  Presbvterv,  in  order  to  take  oil  the 
censure  and  restore  him  to  uood  standuig  with  the  Ameri- 


can  Preslnterian   chureiie: 


\W  1 


lavmg  this   done 


.All 


"Williams  tluai  saw  tlie  way  apjtareiitly  clear  for  a  union 
of  the  three  Presl)vteries  in  New  Kntiland,  and  the  further 


projjagation 


of  Presbvterianism   in   the  reuion,  as  well  us 


inter-denominational  intercourse  and  fellowship  with  the 
fiurrounding  regular  Congregational  churches.    He  wrote 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


245 


Mm 


earnest!}'  to  Mr.  Murraj',  stating  liis  motives — the  glory  of 
God,  the  honor  of  tlic  American  Preshytcrian  chureli.  tlic 
wcll-heinf]:;  of  his  Presbytery,  and  the  lionor  and  dignity 
of  his  own  person,  as  a  lawfully  ordained  mini^^ter.  So 
earnesllv  did  he  desire  tliis,  that  he  submitted  the  letter 
from  Dr.  Smith  to  his  own  session,  then  to  tiie  session  of 
Londonderry,  again  to  his  own  session,  and  then  wrote  in 
earnest  terms  to  Mr.  Murray,  l)egging  him  to  eomj)ly  with 
the  proposition  stated  by  Dr.  Smith.     He  says: 

"I  trust  that  you  yourself,  and  all  that  fear  God  in  your 
society,  will  view  my  conduct  in  the  most  favorable  light. 
If  yourself  and  session  think  it  best  to  drop  the  matter,  I 
shall  only  britfly  by  letter  inform  Dr.  Smith  ;  but,  if  you 
and  they  (considcratis  considcrandis)  judge  it  best  that  I 
should  go  on  and  use  all  my  endeavors  to  bring  this  affair 
to  the  happy  union  of  the  said  Presbytery  of  the  Eastward 
with  the  other  Presbyterian  churches,  then  let  this  further 
inform  you  that  when  you  concur,  I  will  lay  a  proper 
memorial  before  our  Presbytery  that  it  may  be  corrected 
and  authenticated  by  the  moderator,  in  order  to  furnish 
our  agent  to  wait  upon  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia." 

Dr.  Smith  also  wrote  to  Mr.  Murray,  and  while  his  friends 
prevailed  on  him  to  answer  the  Doctor,  yet  he  never 
changed  his  position.  He  persisted  in  denying  the  forgery, 
and  finally  "  intimated  the  utter  impracticability  of  so 
great  a  journey," 

His  "judgment  respecting  the  importance  of  his  Presby- 
tery continuing  in  a  state  of  indejjendent  separation  from 
the  other  Presbyteries,"  was  very  different  from  the  opinion 
of  the  pastor  and  session  of  "Windham  ;  and  his  own  ses- 
sion, if  they  urged  on  him  the  propriety  of  the  course  recom- 
mended by  jNIr.  ^^'illiams,  had  on  his  purjjose  and  course 
no  productive  influence. 

We  have  seen  the  frame  of  his  mind  in  1774,  when  he 
wrote  that  ''the  searcher  of  all  hearts  knew  his  agonies  of 
mind  on  every  review,  and  that  no  restoration  to  the  favor 
of  men  could  ever  give  him  ease  ;"  and  now.  after  fifteen 
years  (and  ev(>n  till  the  day  of  his  death,  four  years  after- 
ward), none  of  th(>  considerations  })ressed  upon  him  by  his 
friend,  the  Rev.  Simon  M'illiams,  changed  his  mind. 

Returning  to  the  Presbytery.  In  1790  they  held  two 
meetings — one  at  Windham  and  the  other  at  Londonderry, 


M 


246 


HISTORY  OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


and  after  duo  examination  in  natural  and  moral  pliilos- 
ophy,  natural  reli<j;ion  and  the  evidences  ol'  Divine  revela- 
tion, in  systematic  divinity,  their  personal  exj)erience  and 
their  motives,  they  directed  them  to  deliver  their  poj)ular 
sermons,  all  whieJi  l)cing  satisfactorily  done,  they  licL'Used 
Mr,  Atkinson  and  Mr.  More  to  ])reach  the  gospeL  By 
elders  Moulton  and  Tukesbury  aj)plication  was  made  tliat 
Mr.  Jonathan  Brown  (candidate)  i)reach  in  Ameshury, 
Seabrook,  and  iSalishury  (old  town)  in  rotation.  They 
promise  him  five  dollars  per  Sabhath  and  his  ferryage. 

lie  was  so  appointed.  Mr.  More  preached  with  accept- 
ance in  the  town  of  Brunswick,  and  on  June  4th,  171)1, 
they  petition  for  his  return  to  them  i'or  "further  tryal." 

Business  meetings  were  held  at  New  Market  and  New- 
buryport  in  1791. 

On  February  loth,  1791,  the  Rev.  Wm.  Davidson,  of 
Derry,  died,  after  a  pastorate  of  above  fifty  years,  at  the 
age  of  seventy-seven.  He  was  a  man  of  an  amiable  char- 
acter, exemplary  in  deportment,  and  a  devoted  pastor. 
As  a  theologian  or  as  a  public  sjieaker  he  did  not  excel, 
and  his  doctrinal  views  were  not  always  distinctively  Cal- 
vinistic.  lie  was  beloved  for  his suaviter  in  modo  more  than 
he  was  relied  upon  for  hh  fort  iter  in  re.  Thus  the  "  Scotch- 
Irish"  in  the  ministry  were  called  away,  and  their  mantles 
(so  far  as  they  could  fill  tiiemj  were  increasingly  worn  l)y 
natives  of  New  England,  who  had  not  the  advantages  of 
studying  at  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  which  Mr. 
Davidson  and  many  of  his  predecessors  and  associates 
enjoyed. 

We  have  already  seen  the  })ungent  letter  of  Presbytery 
written  by  their  clerk  to  the  society  in  Seabrook,  who  had, 
through  alleged  poverty,  "  silent  8abl>aths  and  a  shut  teni- 
]jle  door,"  and  to  all  who  have  the  charge  of  souls  as  pas- 
tors, elders,  or  church  courts,  the  result  ( under  the  blessing 
of  heaven)  should  prove  admonitory  and  encouraging. 
They  not  only  asked  for  supplies  in  1790,  but  on  June 
13th,  1792,  the  Presbytery  there  held  their  last  meeting, 
of  which  we  have  minutes  fully  recorded.  There  were 
l»resent  Revs.  Nathaniel  Ewer,  Solomon  ■Nloore,  and  John 
Murray,  with  ruling  elders  Josej)!!  Young,  Abraham 
Moore,  Jeremiah  Pearson,  David  Tukesbury,  John  Moul- 
ton, aud  Thomas  Kennedy  ;  and  the  Rev.  Simon  Williams 


IN    NEW    ENGLAND. 


247 


(absent)  was  appointed  to  open  the  next  meeting  by  a  ser- 
mon on  the  13th  chaj).  of  the  Conf.  of  Faith  (on  Sanctifi- 
cation),  "  Voted  by  Presbytery,  that  they  meet  for  the 
future  at  some  central  ])hice,  which  shall  by  them  be  ap- 
pointed, with  the  proviso  that  the  next  meeting  be  at  New 
Boston,  on  Wednesday,  the  4th  day  of  October." 

"Mr.  Moore  was  reappointed  to  Brunswick  for  two 
months.  A  call  from  Salisbury  for  Mr.  Jonathan  Brown 
was  sustained  as  regular ;  the  answer  to  the  call  was  post- 
poned, and  Mr.  B.  was  ordered  to  preach  there  for  four 
Sabbaths.  Messrs.  David  Adams  and  James  Choate  ap- 
peared as  a  committee  from  the  first  church,  in  Derry  for 
supply.  The  clerk  was  ordered  to  give  to  them  a  copy  of 
a  letter  from  Mr.  James  ^IcGregor  to  the  Rev.  John  Murray, 
stating  olijections  against  Mr.  Brown's  going  to  Derry  as  a 
preacher." 

"  The  Rev.  Mr.  Murray  was  appointed  to  assign  places 
to  the  candidates  after  they  have  fulfilled  their  appoint- 
ments." 

"  Mr.  Nathan  Broadstreet,  a  graduate  of  Dartmouth,  was 
now  examined  for  license.  His  extensive  examination 
was  satisfactory." 

"  Mr.  William  Pidgeon,  a  student  from  Exeter  Academy, 
having  given  satisfaction,  was  as  a  Bursar  recommended  to 
Dartmouth  College." 

"The  proposals  for  a  union  f which  avc  shall  subse- 
quently (D.  V.)  notice)  between  the  Presbyteries  of  New 
England  being  laid  before  the  Presbytery,  voted,  that  they 
be  received  as  preliminaries  to  a  general  })lan,  and  that 
the  Rev.  ^Icssrs.  Nathaniel  Ewer,  Simon  Williams,  and 
John  Murray  be  commissioned  by  the  clerk  as  delegates  to 
attend  a  Synodical  Convention  at  Dartmouth  College,  on 
the  28d  of  August  next  (1792),  for  the  purpose  of  uniting 
the  several  Presbyteries  into  one  Synod  ;  and  this  Presby- 
tery engages  to  ratify  as  their  own  act  whatever  may  be 
done  therein  by  their  said  delegates,  or  any  number  of 
them,  who  may  attend  at  that  meeting." 

"Adjourned  to  the  meeting-liouse  at  New  Boston,  there 
to  meet  on  the  4th  day  of  October  next  (1792),  at  10  a.  m. 
Concluded  with  ])rayer." 

Thus  the  Synod  of  New  England,  formed  at  Scabrook  in 
1775^  ignoring  the  existence  of  the  Presbytery  at  the  East- 


ii!i| 


;  i  I 


■'  I 


248 


HISTORY  OF   PRESBYTERIAMSM 


Hi 


f.ii  5 
1  Si  t 


< 


i- 


ward,  continued  some  seven  years  ;  and  the  Presbj'tery  of 
Salem,  to  which  it  was  reduced,  becoming  extinct  on  the 
14th  of  September,  1791,  at  Gray,  in  Maine,  this  Presby- 
tery survived  it  only  nine  months. 

It  may  be  said,  that  while  its  re<^'ular  records  are  not 
found,  it  may  have  prospered  for  years.  This  was  simply 
jjossible,  not  probable  ;  lor  one  man  was  "  the  author  and "' 
api)arently  the  "  finisher  of"  it.  He  who  had  (for  above 
twenty-one  years,  throu<rh  evil  report  and  throiitrh  good 
report)  been  the  cmbodimiint  of  this  Presbytery,  finished 
bis  course  at  Newbury  port,  on  March  13th,  1793,  aged 
fifty-one. 

His  funeral  sermon  was  preached  by  the  Ilev.  James 
Miltimore,  parish  pastor  of  Stratham,  X.  II. 

After  his  death  regular  meetings  of  the  Presbytery  Avcro 
held  for  a  few  years,  but  how  long  we  cannot  determine. 

Thus,  on  April  19th,  1798,  the  three  selectmen  of  tlie 
town  of  Belfast,  Maine, gave  power  to  "Deacon  John  Tufts 
to  procure  for  the  parish  some  i)erson  of  good  moral  char- 
acter to  preach  for  three  months,  for  the  sum  of  £14  or  £15 
in  money." 

If  Mr.  Abraham  Moore  could  not  be  obtained,  he  was 
instructed  to  consult  the  sessions  of  Windham  or  of  Lon- 
donderry, for  "  our  benefit,  in  this  wilderness  country," 


IN    NEW  ENGLAND. 


249 


CHAPTER   XI. 


1768-1793— "Incnralile dissatisfaction"  in  N.Y. carried  North— Arpyle 
settled  and  iiaiiu'd,  1771 — KfV.  Thos.  Clarke's  Colony — Salem,  N.Y. — 
The  N.  11.  Ki'iU'tf* — l\'ttrhoro,  N.  H.,  notices  of — W.  liondondtrry — 
AVhi.  Morrison— a.  K.  Synod  formed — Its  third  Presliytery  extended 
into  N.  Iv — I'reshytery  of  Salem  (Mass.)  desired  to  mute  with  it — 
Frnsiratetl  hy  Kev.  S.  'I'afjfL'art — Irrtj^ular  yet  valid— May  HI,  178.3, 
K.  Annan  stated  the  ease  of  Long  Lane  (  ongii. — "As  he  saw  tit" — 
Notices  of  this  man  and  that  Con^;n. — Their  application  to  I'reshytery 
— Received — Their  danuer — \.  installed  Sept.  2"),  1783 — "A  pi'cnliar 
item  of  hnsiness" — Installations  asked — Snpplies,  etc. — Litchfield  — 
Whipple — A  deep  want  of  Ministers  now  felt — What  Anderson  was 
to  read — Snpplies  asked — The  statemert  of  R.  Annan — Synod's  ride 
— Rev.  ,J.  Hoii.-ttin — (iroion,  its  trials  and  activity — Their  case  received 
attention — \Vhii>ple — Ivv.  R.  Annan  edited  Jiath  Kul — Boston  not 
Paradise — A.'.secientricilies — Recalled  to  Wallkill — Yonnj;  preachers 
much  wanted — A  reconciliation  desired — Not  etlected — An  overture 
reqnesteil — Supplies,  etc..  asked — Clnu'ch  privile<;es — Oliences  in  Cole- 
raine — Directions — .Jonrneys  performed  to  supply  vacancies — Annan 
not  nnwillini;  to  leave  Roston — Bedford  asked  him — Worry — Local 
is.sncH  avoided  hy  reference — Positive  convictions — A  time  set — A 
Providential  interposition — Dilapidation  increasing — Elders  said  to 
be  of  no  good,  only  to  settle  iiuarrels — N'oted  themselves  into  Congre- 
gationalism— The  pious  grieved — Little's  Trust  now  ]>erverted  hy 
xchi.vn — No  redress — Fourteen  families  forced  out — Blotted  out  in 
Boston  hy  injustice— Preshytory  of  Londonderry  from  June  2d,  1786 
— Records — Supplies  asked — Difficulties  in  Coleraine  considered — La- 
borers much  wanted — "  ( )rthodox,"  its  meaning  in  1787 — The  political 
field  —The  U.  S.  Oinxtitxtidn — Simply  Presbyterian  church  government 
adapted  to  the  State — Brattle  Street  Church — "The  Irish  meeting- 
iionse  "  in  Long  Lane — The  structure — The  I'.  S.  Cons,  adopted  in  it — 
An  appropriateness — Federal  Street  Church — Patriotic  delight  in  this 
spot  by  every  t  ^'i  citizen  in  Massachusetts — A  breacli  of  moral  hon- 
esty— The  wan  '  ,'  vestiges  of  this  polity  in  our  field — Antrim — Mer- 
rill unworthy — Six  members  of  Poterboro  .anent  a  new  version  of  the 
Psalms — The  A.  R.  Synod — Supplies  wanted — Reasons  for  non-attend- 
ance at  Synod — "  The  broken  Stale  " — Presbytery  of  (irafton — At  the 
Eastward  the  expediency  of  a  coalescence  with  October  1,  1788 — 
Overborne — Response  from  Grafton  Pre.sbytery  acknowledged — Bar- 
net  incorporated — Cannot  attend  Synod — Modr.  to  write  thus — Good 
feeling  growing — Resignation  of  an  Elder — "  Devoutly  to  be  wi.shed  " 


¥mp 


250 


HISTORY   OF   PUESBYTERIAMSM 


— Concurrence  on  the  matter  of  Rev.  Jno.  Murray  asked — Colby  and 
plan  of  union — Supplier  anked — "  Void'" — A  change  coming  over — 
Toil — Letters  of  inquiry — Toombs — Oliver — Advice  craved — I).  An- 
nan demits— Attends  Svnod — Called  October  l',»,  17U1,  A.  R.  Presby- 
tery of  New  England — Clamour — Dog-killers — Praise  silenced  in 
families — Imputaticm — A  vote  of  thanks  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Huntington 
of  Conn.,  for  his  defence  of  it — Supplies  asked — Rev.  D.  Annan's 
troubles — Requests  a  dismission,  granted — A  Synodical  Convention 
called — Grafton  Presbytery  absent,  and  no  further  notice  of  thetn  is 
to  be  taken  by  the  others — The  A.  R.  and  fragments  of  the  P.  at 
Eastward  eventually  "coalesced" — (irafton  an  amateur  PreKi)ytery — ■ 
fjona.  Brown  as  colleague  to  Ewer,  remains  of  (list  Derry  session,  ask 
admission  to  the  A.  R.  Presbytery  of  New  England,  and  are  admitted 
— Oliver  inslalleil  in  Pelham — Instructions  asked — Toombs  called  to 
Newburyport — No  attendance  at  Synod  for  three  years — A  source  of 
grief — Numbers  and  not  |)urity  now  in  the  A.  R.  Presl)ytery,  hence  a 
"coalescence" — The  terms  of  imion — Four  parallel  1;.  R.'s  in  Iowa, 
from  Cheyenne  one  track — Similar  here  at  the  close  of  this  quarter  of 
a  century  (in  1793)  with  Presbyterianism  in  New  England — Now  one 
Presbytery — Introduction  —Growth  while  the  early  Ministers  survived 
— Yet  they  were  not  all  faithful — John  Morrison  a  disgrace  and 
David  Annan  nothing  better — Deposed — Notices  of  him — The  Bible 
and  family  worship  preserved  religion  (under  God)  in  Peterboro  for 
50  years — A  dark  period — A  noble  testimony — Periods  of  existence 
of  Presbyteries — A  working  Presbytery. 


I:: 


We  li.'ive  seen  that  about  a.  d.  1760,  those  Presbyterians 
in  New  York  City  wlio  endeavored  to  receive,  observe,  keep 
pure  and  entire  the  worship  "  of  God  in  ])sahnody,"  were 
sneered  at  as  "incurably  dissatisfied,"  and  tliat  the  Revs. 
Alex.  (tcUatly  and  John  Mason  ministered  to  them.  Tliis 
dissatisfaction  was  from  the  city  carried  to  the  towns  in 
northeastern  New  York  by  emigrants  I'rom  Scotland  and 
Ireland.  One  of  the  oldest  of  the  pioneer  churches  in 
that  region  is  that  of  Argyle,  Wasliington  co. 

In  17(34,  (Jeorge  III.  granted  to  Archibald  Campbell, 
Duncan  lleid,  Neil  Shaw,  Alex.  McNaughton,  and  Neil 
Gillespie  about  47,()U()  acres,  for  about  140  Presl^yterian 
emigrants,  wiio  came  soon  afterwards  from  Scotland. 
500  acres  were  reserved  for  the  gosjiel  and  for  schools. 
The  town  was  organized  and  named  about  1771. 

In  1764  the  Rev.  Thomas  Clarke,  M.  D.,  came  from 
Ballibay,  Ireland.  Part  of  his  colony  of  300  people  went 
to  JiOng  Cane,  in  South  Carolina,  while  he,  with  the  rest, 
in  1767,  settled  in  Salem,  N.  Y.  He  had  the  honor  of 
first  raising  the  standard  of  Presbyterianism  in  that  region, 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


251 


D\)ell, 

beriau 
tUind. 
bools. 

from 

went 

R  rest, 

lor  of 

3gion, 


none  beinp;  farther  north  at  thnt  time.  Ho  left  Salem 
about  17<So,  and  went  to  Lonp;  C'ane,  wliere  he  died. 

The  town  of  Salem  l)ordL'rin<^  on  the'State  of  Vermont, 
coinuuuiication,  such  as  was  attainable  then,  was  in  due 
time  opened  up.  We  have  also  to  remember,  that  "  pre- 
vious to  the  American  Revolution,  that  part  of  tiie  coun- 
try known  as  'Vermont,'  was  called  'the  New  Hampshire 
Grants,'  and  was  claimed  by  both  New  Hampsiiire  and 
N''W  York.  The  General  Assembly-  of  New  York  divided 
it  into  four  counties,  two  on  the  west  and  two  on  the  east 
side  of  the  Green  mountains." 

As  ])opulation  puslied  westward  throufrh  and  from  New 
nanjpshire,  up  the  Connecticut  river  into  these  "Grants," 
Presbyterians  were  sandwiciied  in  amon<;  other  sects,  and 
Peterboro  in  the  southwestern  part  of  the  State  was,  as 
early  as  1749,  settled  by  emigrants  from  Londonderry. 

Tiiey  built  a  house  of  worship  in  1752,  and  their  town 
was  incorporated  in  1700.  After  making  varied  efforts, 
and  obtaining  some  temporary  sujjply  of  preaching,  on 
March  18th,  170G,  "Article  4th  in  the  town  warrant  made 
provision  for  public  action  in  regard  to  the  settlement  of 
John  Morrison."  As  the  first  settled  minister  of  the  town 
he  was  ordained  there  on  November  2()th,  17(56. 

His  wretched  career  we  have  already  noticed ;  and  he 
was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  David  Annan,  who  was  ordained 
by  the  Associate  Presbytery  of  New  York  "  at  \\'allkill, 
N.  Y.,  in  October,  1778,  with  Peterboro  for  his  destina- 
tion." 

This  congregation,  on  October  1st,  1778,  asked  and  ob- 
tained a  dismission  from  the  Synod  of  New  England,  and 
on  uniting  with  the  Associate  Presbytery  of  New  York, 
they  were  brought  into  ecclesiastical  intercourse  with  those 
beyond  "  the  Green  mountains,"  who  had  the  "incural)le 
dissatisfaction."  After  the  death  of  the  Rev.  David  Mc- 
(rregor  (on  May  3()th,  1777),  his  congregation,  Vjeing  as  yet 
"incurably  dissatisfied"  with  hymnology,  found  it  diffi- 
cult to  obtain  a  pastor.  As  the  colony,  which  some  fifteen 
years  before  removed  to  Truro,  Nova  Scotia,  had  procured 
one  from  Great  Britain  ;  to  them  they  made  application, 
in  hopes  that  they  could  inform  them  how  to  proceed  with 
success.  From  that  quarter  they  obtained  no  relief.  After 
continuing  a  vacancy  for  six  years,  they  made  an  unani- 


252 


HISTORY   OF    PHK.SnYTEHIANISM 


w 


nious  choice  of  Mr.  William  Morrison,  a  licentiate  of  the 
Ai<sociiito  Presbytery  of  New  York,  iintl  placed  themselves 
under  its  care. 

The  Associate  Reformed  Synod  was  formed  on  October 
1st,  1782,  at  Philadelphia,  and  consisted  of  three  Presby- 
teries, the  third  one  ext«'ndin,ti  into  New  Kn;j:land.  With 
it  the  Presbytery  of  Salem,  Mass.,  were  desirous  to  unite. 
They  wrote  to  Dr.  Clarke  at  Salem,  N.  Y,,  the  answer  to 
which  application  expressed  a  desire  of  said  union  and  a 
l»romise  to  submit  the  proposal  to  his  Presbytery. 

While  negotiations  were  in  progress,  the  Kev.  Samuel 
Taggart,  as  noticed,  informed  the  others  by  a  letter,  that 
he  had  made  overtures  to  the  Associate  llelormed  Presby- 
tery "for  a  junction  with  them,  as  far  as  may  be  without 
a  dismission  from  this  body,"  and  this  was  deemed  to  be 
"  irregular  and  unpresbyterial,"  as  hopes  of  a  union  were 
now  entertained. 

He  was  allowed  to  depart  in  peace  and  in  good  stand- 
ing, yet  the  Salem  Presbytery  did  not  dismiss  him  till 
June  2d,  1785.  Hence,  at  Londe/udcrry  the  Presbytery, 
composed  of  Rev.  David  Annan  and  the  Rev.  Samuel  Tag- 
gart,  ministers,  with  Elders  (leorge  Duncan,  of  London- 
derry; David  Harours,  of  Coleraine.  and  Roliert  Morrison, 
of  Peterboro,  ordained  and  installed  the  Rev.  William 
Morrison,  on  February  Pith,  178o.  A  ;>/v)  rr  nata  meeting 
was  held  in  the  same  place,  on  May  IDth,  ITS.'),  in  which, 
with  the  others,  the  Rev.  Robert  Annan  was  associated. 
By  the  court  '"Mr.  Morrison's  ordination,  though  deemed 
to  be  irregular,  was  approved  as  valid  and  constitutional." 

"  Mr.  Robert  Annan  then  laid  the  situation  of  tiie  con- 
gregation in  Boston  before  the  Presbytery,  as  being  desti- 
tute of  the  powers  of  government."  He  "was  ajjpointed 
to  moderate  in  an  election  of  ciders  in  that  congregation, 
and  to  admit  them  as  he  saw  tit,"  and  it  was  voted  to  de- 
lay his  installation  till  after  the  next  meeting.  This  man 
and  that  congregation  now  recjuire  our  attention. 

He  was  born  at  Cupar  of  Fife,  in  Scotland,  in  1742,  and 
came  to  America  in  1701.  At  the  comnuMifeiiMMit  of  tlio 
lievolutionary  war  he  was  settled  at  or  near  Little  Britain, 
now  Walden,  on  the  Wallkill,  N.  Y.  When  Boston  was 
besieged  and  reduced  nearly  to  starvation  by  the  British, 
it  was  proposed  in  his  congregation  to  send  to  them  relief. 


IN    NEW    ENGLAND. 


253 


A  mootinfj;  was  callcil  and  lu-ld  in  his  cliurcli.  A  lawyer 
('ndeuVDi't'd  Ity  his  ('Nxukmicc  to  shew  to  the  people  their 
d:in<ier  and  |)n»sp('ctiv('  ruin,  if  they  should  thus  ajrjrravato 
the  displeasure  of  lOuiihuul.  The  "  Scotch  "  of  the  Scotch- 
man heuan  to  i»(til.  \\v  spoiled  the  oration  and  drove  the 
orator  into  insi^'nilieance.  Listenin<i'  to  the  jilausihilities 
uttered  for  a  short  tinu',  he  sprang'  to  his  feet,  crying', 
''  toot,  man,  we  have  had  enough  of  that,"  and.  naniin<;  a 
l)rotninent  man  present,  he  exelainu'd,  "All  of  you  who  are 
willin>i  to  send  aitl  to  our  hrethren  in  Boston  follow  Mr. 
out  to  the  ^reen,  and  all  who  are  a<rainst  dt)in<:  so  will 


le  Jiouse  was 


remain  in  the  house  and  hear  the  sijuire.''  T 
innnediately  emptied,  aind  the  si)eaker  was  left  alone  in 
his  glory.  Aid  was  sent,  and  the  name  of  Hohert  Annan 
hecame  known  in  Boston.  W'Ihmi  visitinjf  iiis  hrother  in 
I'eterhoro,  and  extendin<i  his  jt)urney  to  Boston,  he  was  hy 
the  ]>uhlic,  and  especially  hy  th(>  Bresi)yterians,  eordially 
reeeived.  As  the  eongregation  in  Lon;,'  Lane,  after  nine- 
teen months  of  earn.est  lal)or  for  the  services  of  the  Bev. 
John  Murray,  had,  in  177(),  entered  their  declinature,  and 
were  3'et  smitten  with  the  "incurahle  dissatisfaction,"  so 
soon  as  they  liad  opportunity  of  hearing  the  Key.  Bohert 
Annan,  they  made  aj)plieation  for  his  serviees  as  follows: 


Cop} I  of  the  Letter  dated  September  l\th,  17f*'2,  addrc.'^scd  hy 
William  MeXeili  Andrew  lilaek,  Jiohert  IIV/V,  Hector  Mc- 
Neill, and  Simon  Elliot,  a  Com)niltee  of  the  Coneireijation  in 
Long  Lane,  to  the  Associate  Presbytery  of  Sew  Yurk. 

"  To  the  Associate  Preshytery  of  New  York,  to  meet  at 
Peterhurough,  the  3d  Wednesday  in  Septemher,  1782 : 

"Reverend  Gentlemen, 

"  Convinced  of  the  necessity  of  a  Religious  Life,  and 
dwelling  in  a  Ijand  where  the  means  of  grace  are  ))lenti- 
fully  enjoyed  hy  others,  we  ardently  wish  to  see  (jurselves 
upon  a  footing  with  our  fellow-Christians,  in  ohserving  the 
institutions  of  the  Gos|)el. 

"And  whereas  the  ])reaching  of  the  word  hath  hoon  made 
(through,  the  divine  hlessing)  the  means  of  convincing  and 
converting  sinners,  and  building  them  up  in  the  ways  of 
virtue,  and  Holiness,  it  is  our  earnest  desire  to  provide 


254 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


\  I 


ourselves  witli  those  meiins,  which  God  lias  alwaj's  ])oon 
pleased  to  eontimie  and  hless,  j'or  the  sjjiritual  <j:ood  and 
edilieation  of  his  church,  lii'iidy  persuaded  that  our  wait- 
ing U)K)n  him  in  the  way  of  his  own  appointment  is  not 
only  our  duty,  i>ut  the  surest  way  to  ohtain  his  hlessinir 
here,  and  of  heing  jjrejjared  for  a  Blessed  Eternity  with 
himself  in  (llory. 

"  Ft)r  this  salutary  ]>urpose  we  have  (wo  trust  in  riod\ 
hy  till!  special  ^aiidancc  of  divine  providence,  lixc(l  our 
choice  upon  the  Kev.  Mr.  Kol)ert  Amian,  to  Adnunister 
the  word  and  ordinances  of  the(Jospel  amon<ist  us;  Ilumhly 
hoi»ini:  tliat  the  liord  will  I'avor  this  our  choice,  with  his  (H- 
vine  presen(;e  and  lUessinir,  and  make  him  the  hapj)y  instni- 
ment  of  colh'ctinjr  our  disj)ersed  people  (  who  have  l)een  loni^ 
wanderiuif  like  sheep  without  a  shepherd)  and  reviviui^ 


once  more  the  ])rmciples  ot  piety  an< 


d  re  Hi/; 


.non  amonifst  us. 


From  the  <;()od  character  we  had  of  tliis  Kev.  (Jentlo- 
man  heforo  In;  came  to  ur,  from  tlu>  knowledge  we  have 
had  of  himself  since  our  ac(iuaintance  witlj  him,  and  from 
every  i»h'a  we  h;ive  heen  ahle  to  form  of  adospel  Minister, 
we  plaiidy  see  the  suitahleness  there  is  hetween  his  al)ilities 
and  our  necessities. 

"  Wherefore,  having  stood  singh^  and  unconn<M'tiMl  with 
any  of  the  I'reshyteries  in  this  Country  for  s(;veral  years 
past,  and  liniHng  that  Mr.  Annan  still  inclines  to  continue 
his  conne(^tion  with  vour  reverend  hody,  we  find  ourselves 


imix 


died  1 


)y  every  rational  motive  to  make  our  application 


to  you  at  this  time,  earnestly  Besee(;hing  you  to  take  tlio 
ease  of  our  society  into  your  serious  cttnsideration,  That  our 
dissolution  as  a  \\'orshi|>ping  Assemhly  may  he  prevented, 
wdiich  otherwise  must  surely  hapjjen,  unless  the  Lord  he 
pleased  to  hless  us  very  soon  with  a  faithful  minister. 

"  We  are  persuadi'd.  That  our  necessities  will  plead  for  us, 
as  well  as  our  danger  of  falling  into  nothing  as  a  society,  if 
our  jiresent  re(iuest  he  not  attended  to.  and  we  hope  tiiese 
considerations  will  induce  you  to  use  your  interest  and  in- 
iluence  with  tlu*  Rev'd  Mr.  Annan,  and  all  concerned,  to 
bring  ahout  his  settlement  with  us  at  Moston. 

"  V\u)\i  this  express  design,  we  have  sent  our  trusty 
friends  Hector  McNiell,  Simon  KUiot  aiid  Francis  Wright, 
or  any  two  of  them,  as  our  connnissioners  to  confer  with 
you,  and  coiicludo  on  such  measures  as  may  be  thought 


IN    NEW    ENGLAND. 


255 


with 

inu»' 

itio\i 
the 
itour 
•nl«'<l 
(I  bo 

'or  us, 

I4y,  if 

these 

1(1  in- 

eil,  to 

[rusty 

[riiiht, 

with 

lou'^ht 


most  likely  to  effect  this  purpose  in  the  best  and  speediest 
manner  ])ossil)le. 

"  We  arc,  C'rcntlcmen,  with  sincerity  and  IJrotherly  Love, 
for  ourselves,  and  on  belialf  of  the  I'resbyteriiin  Con- 
gregation in  Long  Lane,  in  tiie  town  of  Boston, 
''  Your  Friends  and  Huni])le  Servants, 
"  William  McNiELL,     Axninav  Bl.m  k,     Simox  Elliot, 
"  Koiu'.UT  Wkik,  Hector  McNiell,     Committee. 

''JiosTox,  Sept.  Ufh,  17S-i. 
"To  the  Kev'd   Associates  Presbytery  of  New  York,  to  sit 
at  Peterburough  od  Wednesday  tliis  instant  Sept'r." 

This  Presbytery  on  that  day  received  them,  and  they 
were  "Associate"  Presl)ytcrians  for  a  few  weeks,  and  then 
this  congregation  forme<l  one  of  those  who,  on  ()ct(xbcr 
31st,  17''^2,  entered  into  the  union  with  the  Reformed  Pres- 
byterians, in  hai'niony  with  tlu'  t(.'rms  of  union  agrccfl  to 
at  Pequa,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  l.'Uh  day  of  the  previous 
.lune. 

Thus,  the  Long  T>ane  real  estate,  the  gift  of  John  Little 
in  IToo,  became  legitimately  tlu^  i)ropcrty  of  the  new  de- 
nomination, as  the  congri'gation  became  a  part  of  the  As- 
sociate Ivcformcd  <;hurch. 

When  the  Synod  was.  on  November  1st,  17S2.  arranged 
into  Presbyteries,  the  thii'd  cndiraccd  llev.  Messrs.  Thomas 
Clarke,  John  Mason,  Robert  Annan,  David  Aiman,  minis- 
ters with  their  ruUng  elders.  It  was  constituted  lirst  in 
l'hiladel]»hia  on  November  1st.  This  Prcsl)yt(>ry  met  at 
Londonderry  (»n  February  12th.  and  ordained  Mr.  William 
Morrison;  and  at  the  same  plac(\  on  May  IDtli,  \~S:\,  '*  Mr. 
llobert  Annan  was  appointed  to  moderate  in  an  election 
of  elders." 

In  su|)plying  the  pulpit  during  sunnncT,  he  made  the 
(liscoverv  that  thev  were  in  some  "dan-icr  of  falling  into 
iKilhing  as  a  society."  The  thirty  who  would  not  Join  in 
the  declinature  were  ))robably  scatt<'red  ;  they  had  been 
without  a  pastor  for  ten  years,  including  a  seven  years' 
w;ir,  which  brought  in  a  llood  of  immorality,  and  were 
''destitute  of  the  powers  of  govi-rmucut ."  having  no  ruling 
elders,  whih;  the  ollice  and  position  of  the  Prect-ntor 
(facing,  in  his  desk,  the  congregation  )  had  been  exchanged 
by  the  assiniilution  of  the  juvenile  mind  to  their  congre- 


m^ 


256 


HISTORY    OF   PRE9BYTERIAXISM 


M\ 


gational  surroundings,  and,  as  he  stated  it,  "a  band  of 
conciliators  "  j)liiced  themselves  at  the  opposite  end  of  the 
buil(lin<]^,  behind  the  audience,  and  wiien  he,  in  Divino 
worship,  would  nnuounce  a  [)S  dm,  tlu'V  would  8in<j;  ac- 
cordinjjt  to  their  own  "tastes,"  a  portion  of  the  1-'}*.)  imita- 
tions of  Dr.  Watts'.  Beside  this,  a  few  of  the  families  had 
become  comparatively  wealthy,  and  the  parents  did  not 
<liscouraj<e  their  youth  from  })romiseuous  dancin;j,  all 
which  were  a  grief  to  the  pious  part  of  the  church.  Nor 
was  this  all.  Not  a  few  cases  of  anti-nuptial  oiicnce  pol- 
luted the  church,  and  when,  for  the  honor  of  Christ,  he 
and  the  pious  part  of  the  congregation  thought  that  they 
who  had  thus  "sinned"  should  be  "rel)uked  l)efore  all, 
that  others  also  may  fear"  (1  Tim.  v.  2U);  such  persons, 
who  had  "dishonored  their  own  bodies  between  them- 
selves" (Rom.  i.  24),  became  ''hardened  through  the  de- 
ceitfulness  of  sin,"  and  were  unwilling,  not  only  to  submit 
])ublicly  to  the  authority  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  but  even  to  be 
rt'buked  before  the  session  in  ))rivate.  In  short,  to  ac- 
knowledge that  they  had  sinned  at  all. 

Finding,  that  in  such  cases  "the  word  of  the  Lord  had 
not  free  course,"  and  that  the  "  Moly  One  "  was  not  "  glori- 
fied," in  a  year  or  two  his  ]>astorate  became  less  i)leasant 
and  change  increasingly  desirable. 

On  revisiting  W'allkill,  and  saying  to  one  of  his  former 
elders  (a  Mr.  McClurej,  ''  1  wish  you  would  come  with  me 
and  serve  as  an  elder  in  Boston,"  he  was  answered  thus: 
"  because  you  have  made  a  fool  of  yoursell",  that  is  no  rea- 
son why  I  should  make  one  of  myself."  '"  The  course  of 
this  world,  the  deceitfulness  of  riches  and  the  lust  of  other 
things  had  entered  in  and  choked  the  word  until  it  had 
become  (extensively)  unfruitful."  While  his  eccentricities 
were  not  a  few,  he  was  "a  master  in  Israel"  in  tiie  pulpit, 
declared  to  be,  during  his  stay,  the  ablest,  or,  at  least,  one 
of  the  ablest  divines  in  Boston,  lie  was  "held  highly  in 
love  ft)r  his  work's  sake." 

Wiien  the  Presbytery  met,  according  to  appointment  at 
Tetcrboro,  on  Septend»er  2d,  17<S.">,  "A  letter  from  Boston, 
em|K)wering  the  J{ev.  David  Annan  to  act  as  a  commis- 
sioner for  and  in  behalf  of  the  church,  as  also  an  earnest 
request  of  the  society  for  the  speedy  settlement  of  Kev. 
Robert  Annan,"  were  read. 


IN    NEW   LNGLAND. 


257 


In  answer  itwns  "  votod,"  tlmt  his  instullmont  be  on  the 
2atli  inst. ;  thnt  the  saciiiiiiiMit  of  the  Lord'ti  Supper  ho  dis- 
pensed on  the  next  Sahhiith,  and  that  tlie  Kev.  David 
Anniin  preaeh  the  installnuut  sornion  and  perlorni  the 
(ttlier  oflic'ial  (kitics,  wliilc  Mr.  Morrison  Avas  to  })reaeli  in 
ilu'  altcrnoon.  Thi<  was  pcrt'ormed  at  date,  and  he  pro- 
ceeded to  dischar<re  eonseientiously  his  oflicial  duties. 

At  this  stated  meetintr  i  September  2d)  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Clarke,  David  Annan  and  WilHani  ]\h)rrison  were  })resent 
with  their  elcU-rs.  and  a  )u  euiiar  item  of  business  was  to 
"invite  the  Kev.  Samuel  Ta<jr<:art  "  (who  had  assisted  the 
Kev.  David  Annan  on  February  r2th  to  onhiin  Mr.  Wil- 
liam Morrison)  "and  iiis  elder,  Daniel  Dtjnaldson,  to  sit 
as  eorresponiUnits." 

A  petition  from  New  Perth  (Salem,  N.  Y.)  requestinji; 
the  installation  of  tlie  llev.  James  Proudlit,  was  read;  and 
a  re(iuest  from  All)any,  from  persons  who  were  not  of  the 
Associate  Keformed  i)ersuasion,  asking  the  constituting 
the  Rev.  Thomas  Clarke.  M.  D.,  as  tlieir  pastor;  and  one 
from  Fleming's  Creek,  requesting  supi)ly  by  Dr.  Clarke. 
''Re!<()lri'(i,  To  supply  Ryegate  and  liarnet,  if  possible." 

The  installation  of  the  Rev.  James  Pi'oudlit  was  ap- 
pointed to  take  place  at  New  Pi'rth,  N.  Y.,  on  October  22d, 
17^3,  and  "  Dr.  Clarke  to  sui)jtly  in  Albany  as  far  as  it  is 
('onsist''nt  with  his  duty  to  this  body."' 

At  the  amnial  meeting  at  "  liondonderry,  September  2d, 
17'S4,  Mr.  Morrison  j)roj)osed  to  go  a  Ktng  journey,  and  re- 
({Uested  some  supply  for  jiis  pulpit.""  On  behalf  of  the 
committee  of  the  town  of  Litehlield,  N.  II..  Mr.  McQuiston 
:iske(l  preaching.  A  vot(>  of  the  town  of  Redlbrd  was  read, 
asking  ministerial  labor,  and  a  Mr.  Whipple  (whose 
iKuiie  does  not  ]>r(n'ionsly  ajijx'ar)  "  was  appointed  to  sup- 
])ly  the  tirst  two  places  alternately  for  six  Saltbaths." 

Also  ordered,  that  "Mr.  Morrison,  when  at  the  Soutii- 
wanl,  endeavor  to  obtain  sujjply  for  Bedford."  "Presby- 
tery earnestly  recounneniled  Messrs.  R.  Annan,  Taggart, 
I'l'oudtit  and  Clarke;  to  attend  the  next  meeting  and  j)ress 
Synod  to  write  in  a  svn»)dical  capacitv  to  anv  sound  iudi- 
cature  m  Scotland  or  in  Ireland,  for  a  supply  of  ministers, 
or  young  preachers,  as  in  this  part  of  the  world  'the  har- 
vest is  plenteous,  and  the  laborers  are  few.'" 

On  his  own  application,  Mr.  James  Anderson,  previ- 
17 


II 


258 


HISTORY   OF   rUESUYTEltlANISM 


! 


If 


ously  in  connection  with  iinotlier  Prt'sl)ytery,  w;is  received 
as  51  student  of  divinity  and  *'  reconiniended  to  read  Owen, 
Boston,  Hervey  and  the  Krskine's  writings,  to  stiuly  with 
Mr.  >h)rrison  and  ]tr('[)are  ]»reseril)ed  'trials.'" 

At  a  meeting  in  Peterboro,  Marcii  2d,  1785,  ])etitions  for 
supply  were  received  ironi  llenniker  and  Antrim. 

Jlis  healtii  taihng  him,  the  Rev.  K.  Annan  stated  that 
lie  purposed  to  go  south  lor  the  improvement  of  it,  and  U) 
iitU^nd  tlie  next  meeting  of  .Synod. 

On  Ins  re(iuest,  during  his  absence,  ^Ir.  Whipple  was 
appointed  to  supply  in  lioston.  Proposed  to  ask  Synod 
to  set  aside  its  rule,  ''That  nienil)ers  be  received  from  any 
Presbytery  of  any  other  Synod  than  the  Associate  Kr- 
formed  Synod,  simply  by  i*resbyteries,  without  synodieal 
action,  as  such  rule  does  not  ajjpear  to  be  for  general  edili- 
cation."  The  Rev.  John  Houston  was  admitted  as  a  cor- 
respondent. 

June  12tli,  17S5,  pro  re  nnta,  at  Londonderry.  Present — 
Annans,  Morrison  and  Houston. 

Mr.  An(U'rson  (k'hveri'il  jKirts  of  his  "trials."    The  Rev. 

II.  Annan  was  appointed  to  write  to  tliii  Rev.  Mr. of 

Londonderry,  Ireland,  for  his  removal  to  Ryegato  and 
Barnet.  On  February  2()th,  17.S(>,  the  aggrieved  Orotou 
])eople,  whos,!  case  in  counc'ctinn  with  another  l'resi)ytery, 
we  have  seen,  were  represented  l»y  four  commissioners  to 
diifend  said  society  against  any  accusations  whicih  might 
be  brought  against  it,  for  a  letter  from  the  \U;\'.  Mr.  C'ha|)- 
lin  and  the'  ('ongregationahst  church  there,  was  just  rciul. 
Said  C'onnnissioners  also  reipu'sted  a  recommendation  that 
the  I'resbyterians  might  b(!  set  oU' as  a  Poll  parish  in  (h'o- 
ton.  International  law  being  considered  as  of  a  very 
liigh  character,  so  their  interdenominational  case  received 
full  attentittu,  and  tiiey  then  "voted.  That  the  letter  from 
the  ('(Migregational  minister  and  church  in  (Iroton  con- 
tained nothing  of  any  force  or  validity  against  the  Presl)y- 
teriaii  soci(>ty  of  said  town,  an<l  as  to  the  letter  from  >Ir. 
Dana,  it  contained  a  favorable  rei»resentation  of  said 
society  to  the  Presbytery." 

"Saitl  (committee  of  CJroton  being  neither  confronted  by 
accusers  nor  witnesses  against  them,  voted,  tiiat  said  snci- 
ety  be  continued  under  our  care  and  inspe(;tion  accordini,' 
to  u  former  vote;  that  they  tell  their  numbers  and  bo  rcc- 


IN    NEW    ENGLAND. 


259 


omniendcd  to  tlie  civil  authorities  to  })e  sot  off  as  a  poll 
]);irisii ;  that  tiu'  Rov.  R.  Animn  })r('acli  to  thcio  from  time 


to   tiiiu',   aiul   tlmt   our   |>a]>i'rs   and   iimiutcs   aiui 


it    tl 


icir 


matters  be  si'ut  to  Syimd  lor  advice."     To  them  Mr.  Hous- 
ton was  also  to  preaeh.     With  tne  unknown,  I'reshytery 


dealt   summarilv    thu.- 


Dissolved   eoinieetion  with    Mr, 


W'hippU 

jtossiUle, 


Mr.  Morrison  to  sup])ly  Redlonl  as  much  as 


W'hilo  the  Rev.  R.  Amiaii  was  husy  in  Massachusetts 
in  his  own  I'resljytery  and  amon^  his  own  people,  he  also 
found  time  to  proof-read  and  issue  llntJt  k'ol  for  '"  the 
I'reshytery  at  the  Eastward,"  to  attend  other  church  courts 
and  conventions,  yet  lu;  iliil  not  lind  it  in  his  case  to  be  a.s 
it  was  said  a  century  before,  "  ]U)ston  is  tlu'  ])aradise  of 
ministers.''  ills  people  continued  to  be  divided — the 
richer  part  carin;;  less  about  sound  doctrine  and  pure  wor- 
ship, which  the  jioorer  |)ortion  of  th(>  people  prayed  for 
and  craved.      \'et   he  said    both    jiarties    used    him   we" 


lli^ 


e( 


■centricities    were   such    that  of  him    it  was   said 


"  When  he  wat;  in  the  ])ulpit,  it  was  a  pity  he  should  ever 
come  out;  ami  when  out,  it  was  almost  a  pity  he  should 
ever  lio  in."  lie  did  not,  it  seems,  imderstand  human  na- 
ture well.  During  his  [>astorate,  tJaptain  Ak'.\ander  Wil- 
son died  abroad,  and  the  owners  of  his  ship,  on  hearinj;  it, 
thought  it  best  to  have  her  j)astor  hear  the  solemn  tidinjjja 
to  Mrs.  Wilson,  a  damihter  of  the  late  Rev.  .b)hn  Moore- 
jiead.  This  he  a|;reed  to  do.  As  her  daujihter,  Mrs.  (.'os- 
sinuton  (in  181*.)),  told  me:  "lie  came  when  we  were  at 
dinner.  One  t)f  usi!;irls  ''  (three  sisters)  ''saw  him  throujih 
the  window,  and  said, '  There's  Mr.  Annan.'  Another  said, 
'Ih^  nn<fht  havc^  manners  enough  not  to  come  at  dinner- 
time.' Jiut  mother  said, '  There's  news.'  The  motln-r  and 
daiijihters  left  the  table  and  met  him  in  the  hall.  Mother, 
icarimj  that  something  was  wrontr,  inciuired  at  once,  '  Is 
there  any  news  from  the  ship,  Mr.  Annan?'  and  received 
thi!  overwhelming  response,  *  Yes,  you're  a  wiilow!'  No 
l>iitient,  wise,  soothinjr,  sym))athizin.i^  introduction,  but  the 
Worst  first. 

"All  enterinu;  the  j»arlor  to;_fether,  and  there  trivin^'  ex- 
l)rt'ssion  to  their  sorrow,  the  dinner  was  not  tliouuht  of  for 
a  lonjf  time.  \\'heu  they  ri'turned  they  found  that  the 
dog  had  gone  up  and  taken  their  lamb  below  the  table, 


^ 


260 


HISTORY   OF    PH.  SBYTERIANISM 


!k!, 


and  of  it  Imd  niadc^  his  meal — which  inci(h'nt  had  riveted 
it  in  the  memory  of  the  narrator  for  some  sixty-four* 
years." 

Ifc  assuredly  possessed  hut  a  little  of  that  symi)atiiy 
which  is  akin  to  common  sense,  for  in  this  case  he  acted 
with  the  hest  intentions. 

The  shrewd  oliservers  in  his  former  charu^e,  with  wliom 
he  Icept  a  friendly  corresi)on<h'nce,  saw  that,  while  he  went 
from  tliem  partly  in  order  to  ohtain  an  education  for  his 
family,  who,  he  claimed,  had  a  riL^ht  to  liiLcher  instruc- 
tion than  they  could  enjoy  on  the  Wallkill,  entertained 
hopes  that  if  he  were  not  suiuu'ssful  amidst  the  relinements 
of  lioston,  they  could  again  have  him  as  their  ))astoi'. 
Accordingly,  on  Fehruary  2()th,  17^(1,  *' a  call  to  the  Kev. 
K.  Annan  i'rom  Wallkill  and  Little  Jiritain  was  laid  hefore 
Presbytery."  The  consideration  of  it  was  "  deferred  till 
next  meeting,  and  the  congregation  of  lU)ston  were  notified 
to  show  reasons,  if  any  they  have,  why  such  call  should 
not  he  sustained." 

"Voted,  that  the  Rev.  R.  Annan,  in  case  of  a  voyage  to 
Scotland,  be  impowered  to  apply  to  any  sound  ecclesiastical 
judicature  in  that  land  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  a 
number  of  young  preachers,  such  as  shall  ap})ear  to  be 
well  ([ualilied  to  promote  pun;  and  vital  religion  and  evan- 
gelical doctrine  in  America,  and  that  he  use  his  best  en- 
deavors for  that  purpose;  and  also,  that  he  he  further  im- 
poweri'd  t  )  give  a  fair  re[)resentation  of  our  churches  in 
America,  and  nse  his  best  ellbrts  to  accomplish  a  recon- 
ciliation between  our  Synod  and  that  of  our  brethren  in 
Edinburgh." 

These  matters,  of  deep  interest  to  the  denomination, 
were  not  eflected,  as  the  journey  was  not  performed. 

At  Coleraine,  on  May  lOth,  178(1,  the  Presbytery  was 
constituted  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Taggart.  Present,  R.  Annan, 
Jas.  Proudfit,  S.  Taggart,  D.  Annan,  Wm.  Morrison  (and 
the  Rev.  John  Houston  as  a  correspondent),  with  their 
elders. 

Salem,  X.  Y.,  requested  the  installation  there  of  the  Rev. 
Jas.  Proudfit,  and  further  asked  for  "  an  overture  from 
Presbytery  to  the  next  Synod  upon  church  communion," 

*  Mrs.  C.  died  iu  Maiden,  Mass.,  in  1850,  set.  89. 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


2G1 


and,  as  if  tliis  were  not  onoutrh,  "tlirv  dosircd  Presbytery 
to  potitiou  Synod  to  sut  aside  tlieir  prtsent  consjtitu- 
tion." 

A  petition  was  presented  from  lilaek  Creek  (now  Hebron, 
N.  V. )  to  l)e  a  distinct  congrc.^'ation. 

Lieut.  Jas.  Dickson  appeared  from  Middlefield  and 
Chester,  Mass.,  askinji  supply,  and  that  said  })lace8  be 
taken  under  the  care  of  Presbytery. 

Salem,  it  was  ordered,  must  "))ay  up  Mr.  Proudfit'a 
arrears  before;  he  be  installed  there." 

The  question,  '"  What  is  necessary  to  entitle  a  ])erson  to 
churcli  ])rivile^a'S?  "  they  answered,  "  Not  merely  a  credible 
appearance  of  a  man's  bein<r  exercised  unto  <r<»dliness  in 
itself,  but  also  soundness  in  the  faith,  a  comjietency  of 
knowledge,  a  willingness  to  submit  to  the  diseiitline  of 
Christ  in  his  church,  with  a  regularity  of  life  and  conver- 
sation." 

"  Voted,  Not  to  petition  Synod  to  set  aside  their  j)resent 
constitution." 

"  It  must  needs  be  that  offences  come,"  and  diHicultiea 
had  arisen  in  Coleraine  congregation  on  account  that  their 
meeting-house  was  not  built  in  the  most  central  i»hice.  In 
tliese  it  would  ai)pear  that  the  jjastor  had  become  involved, 
lor  he  "  assigned  reasons  for  a  dissolution  of  the  connection 
with  his  congregation." 

Those  dissatisfied  were  advised  to  return,  and  Mr.  Tag- 
gart  was  directed  to  j)rcach  to  them  as  e(iually  as  ])rac- 
tieable.  The  peo])le  were  also  to  be  notified  "and  ex- 
horted to  do  their  <hity  "  to  him. 

While  travelling  was  still  dillieult  (as,  eleven  years  before, 
it  took  seven  days  to  carry  the  news  of  tlie  battle  of 
bunker  Hill  to  Xi'W  York),  ministers  and  elders  on  church 
l)usiness  were  then  usually  in  earnest,  and  journi-ys  which 
would  at  times  appear  insuperable  to  their  leeble  successors 
would  he  jierformed  with  promptitude.  Thus,  the  Itev. 
Mr.  Morrison  was  ap])ointe(l  to  travel  from  Lond(>nd(>rry, 
X.  II.,  or  at  least  from  Coleraine,  Mass.,  to  supjily  Wall- 
kill,  X.  Y.,  on  the  third  Sal)l>atli  of  that  month  (May),  a 
flistance  of  nearly  two  hmidrcd  miles,  over  mountains, 
throuLdi  swam|)s,  and  in  paths  through  the  wilderness; 
while  on  May  11th,  178(),  Captain  .himes  Wilkin,  i-lder, 
appeared  as  a  commissioner  from  Wallkili  and  Little  Bri- 


"A 


262 


HISTORY   OF   rRESRYTERIAXTSM 


IMI 


tain  to  prosocute  their  rooall  for  Afr,  Annan.  Tliat  he 
could  \h'.  iii(hi('(.Ml  to  h'iivc  JJoston  was  extensively  under- 
stood, I'or  at  tills  meeting'  the  eon^'rejiation  of  IJedt'ord 
made  petition  to  have  him  on  trial  as  a  candidate  for  the 
modest  period  of  only  "ei^dit  weeks." 

He  does  not  express  determination,  in  view  of  the  action 
or  inaction  Of  his  pastoral  ('har;i;e,  to  remain;  and  remem- 
herini;  it  may  l)e  not  a  little  worry  in  the  dischar«;e  of 
duty  iimon^  his  former  lloek,  he  leels  no  eager  desire  to 
return,  especially  as  it  would  deprive  his  family  of  their 
educational  opportunities. 

The  advanta.i^'c  of  a  Superior  Court  is  now  realized. 
These  per|)lexing  local  issues  are  now  avoided,  and  attt'r 
"the  call  was  considered,  voted,  that  the  consideration  of 
his  removal  from  Boston  to  Wallkill  and  Little  Britain  he 
referred  to  the  ensuint^  meeting  of  the  Synod." 

lie  had  found,  with  every  other  minister  of  his  persua- 
sion possessed  of  })ositive  convictions,  who  has  tried  the 
experiment  in  Boston,  tl  t  the  Preshyterian  polity  is  (and 
is  alone)  warranted  hy  the  Bible;  that  it  is  not  simply  the 
l)est  exi)edient;  and  that  he  must  "  sjjcak  (to  the  people) 
the  gospel  of  God  with  much  contention"  (1  Thess.  ii.  2). 
When  the  matter  came  before  Synod,  they  limited  to  hiui 
a  time,  at  which  period,  if  he  did  not  accept  the  call  from 
his  former  charge,  he  should  ha  considered  still  to  con- 
tinue to  be  the  |)astor  of  Long  Lane  congregation. 

In  the  meantime,  he  was  providentially  relieved  of  the 
(lilliculty  l)y  receiving  a  call  Irom  a  congregation  in  Phila- 
delphia. With  the  varied  inducements  for  a  removal 
which  we  have  noticed,  he  had  had  but  little  encourage- 
ment in  his  labors,  but  few  additions  to  his  church-roll. 
He  had  baptized  but  two  or  three;  children  and  solenmized 
but  two  marriages  in  three  years.  Of  "consolation  in 
Christ,  comfort  of  love,  fellowship  of  the  spirit,  bowels  and 
mercies,"  among  them,  there  was  not  enough  to  "  fulfd  his 
joy,  that  they  be  like  minded,  having  the  same  love,  being 
of  one  accord,  of  one  mind  ;  in  lowliness  of  mind  esteem- 
ing each  other  better  than  themselves."  Too  much  that 
was  done  by  them  and  among  them  was  only  ''through 
strife  or  vainglory."  He  was  doubtless  glad  to  be  removed 
from  them  in  an  orderly  manner  anil  by  a  j)rovidential 
way.  They  could  no  longer,  with  their  parents  and  grand- 
parents, sing : 


IN    NEW   ENGLAND. 


263 


"  Behold  liow  pood  a  thinp;  if  is, 
And  how  hiromirijj;  well, 
To^jfthiT  surh  as  luelliri'n  are 
In  unity  to  dwell." — Ps,  exxxlii. 

For,  as  lie  exprosscd  it,  "Tlioy  sanj?  and  they  sanj;,  till 
tlicy  suiijr  all  their  j)iety  away,  and  he  had  to  come  away 
and  leave  them! ''  He  was  hy  no  means  the  only  Preshy- 
terian  minister  who  has  realized  the  same  hitti'r  experience 
in  New  Knufland.  Where  the  divine  hedtres  of  governnient 
and  <lis('i|)iine  are  not  kept  "entire,"  other  "  fruits  "  than 
those  ''of  rijzhteonsness,  which  are  hy  Jesus  Christ,  to  the 
<;l()rv  of  (iod,"'  speedily  grow.  tSo  it  was  in  Long  Lane  in 
17S(;. 

During  the  past  thirtiM'n  years,  since  the  death  of  their 
first  pastor,  especially  during  the  seven  years'  war,  dilapi- 
dation increased  with  time.  Their  former  elders,  who 
were  men  of  understanding,  had  fallen  asleep,  or  had  left 
th(>  town,  and  the  ollice  among  them  had  not  heen  well 
filled.  So  long  had  "the  faces  of  the  elders  "  not  heen 
'■  iionored,"  that  the  ollice  hecame  des])ised,  and  the  saying 
lu'came  law,  that  "the  elders  were  only  good  to  settle 
(luarrels,  and  that  the  minister  and  the  old  men  could  do 
that." 

Consequently  (as  Mr.  Annan  left  for  Philadelphia),  those 
who  had  imhibed  C'ongregational  ideas  ])assed  into  the 
ascendant,  and  ahout  August  4,  ITSO,  "at  a  meeting  of  tho 
])roprietors  and  others  of  the  Presbyterian  church.  Long 
Lane,  Robert  Wier,  Moderator — Voted  nnanimously,  that 
this  church  and  congregation  do  embrace  the  Congrega- 
tional mode  of  government,  and  that  all  difliculties  in  the 
church  hereafter  be  settled  by  the  ministers  or  male  mem- 
bers of  the  church." 

The  gay  and  thoughtless  were  now  triumphant,  while 
tin;  pious  were  grieved,  to  see  only  the  "  rubbish  and  tho 
stones"  of  a  church  which  at  one  time  had  been  watched 
over  by  a  session  cd"  twelve  elders.  The  trust  established 
liy  ,h)hn  Little  was  now  perverted  hy  schism,  and  tho 
Presbytery  had  not  in  it  vitality  (for  it  soon  had  trouble 
with  David  Annan  and  others)  to  deal  with  the  case,  while 
for  them,  in  the  civil  courts,  there  was,  as  Pres])yterian9, 
no  redress  ;  they  were  from  their  lirst  appearance  deemed 
to  he  intruders,  and,  as  in  the  ca.se  of  Newburyport,  the 
law-makers  did  not  smile  upon  them. 


it 


2G4 


HISTORY  OF   PRESRYTERIANISM 


I 


HNI 


I 


The  majority  huvinEj  become,  })v  their  own  vote,  Con- 
pre<5!itioniilists,  ns  they  <li(l  not,  like  Potcrboro,  ask  tlus 
Presbytery  to  dismiss  thciii,  with  them  vox  popiiJi  bccaiiK! 
vnx.  Dei,  and  they  went  on  swinunin^ly.  "The  Irish  nieet- 
in<^-house,"  built  in  l7-b')-44,  was  now  "swept  and  gar- 
nished," in  view  of  their  suceess,  in  order  to  make  tho 
]>laee  more  attractive  for  a  new  minister.  When  a  tax  was 
laid  upon  the  pews,  to  i)ay  ibr  the  paintinj^,  Mrs.  (.'ai)t;uii 
Aleximder  Wilson  (  widow),  who  owned  a  pew  in  her  own 
rij^ht,  rather  than  se(;  such  a  jx-rversion  of  the  sacred  trust, 
and  a  teacher  of  "  divers,"  if  not  "  stranu;e,  doetrines,"  stand 
in  the  pnlpit,  in  which  for  twenty-nine  years  she  had  seeu 
her  father  stand  as  "  the  messenger  of  (Jod  "  and  as  her 
own  Presbyterian  pastor,  she  resolved  (as  diil  thirteen 
other  heads  of  families  with  her)  to  forsake  the  ])laee.  and 
to  ehan<;e,  if  she  could  not  forLret,  her  Sahhath  surrctund- 
ini^s.  As  the  occupants  knew  there  was  force  in  the  trust 
deed,  his  "pew  and  seat''  was  still  kejjt  free  for  the  heirs 
of  John  Little.  Presbytcrianisin  had  to  be<;  twelve  years 
before  it  was  allowed  to  l)uild  its  lirst  church  in  School 
street,  on  its  own  land,  and  now,  after  an  existence  of  above 
seventy  years,  it  is  blotted  out  in  Boston. 

On  April  4,  17S7,  the  Rev.  Dr.  .lercmy  Belknapp  was 
settled  as  their  minister.  On  .June  2,  IT.SO,  by  the  As.soci- 
ate  Reformed  Synod,  the  third  Presbytery  was  called  the 
Presbytery  of  Londonderry. 

We  now  return  to  the  records : 

At  Peterboro,  September  27,  1780,  the  memlxTs  were 
D.  Annan,  Jno.  Houston,  S.  Taupirt  and  Wm.  Morrison, 
niinisters,  with  their  elders.  From  them  llye^ate  and 
IJarnet  (Vt.)  request  sujtplies.  To  these  ])laci'S  *' the  lUx. 
Jno.  Houston  was  aj)jH)inted,  and  instructed  to  ordain 
elders  for  them."  "  Flder  Thos.  McCiee,  of  ('oleraine,  pre- 
scnte(l  a  liiiiiii  vote  of  th(;  town  re(iuestinu;  Mr.  Tag<iart  to 
continue  ainoni;  them."'  On  May  oO,  17S7,  at  London- 
derry, but  little  business  was  done,  and  the  Rev.  James 
Proudlit  was  to  "  be  earnestly  retpiested  to  attend  their 
next  meeting,"  which  was  held  at  Coleraine  on  October  1, 
1787,  and  winch  (with  Mr.  Robert  McxMurray,  his  elder) 
he  did. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Hubbard,  on  request,  sat  with  them  as  a 
correspondent.     Pelham  requested  some  assistance  and 


IN    NEW   ENGLAND. 


265 


pupply.  Order  was  taken  for  the  ordination  of  oldors  at 
MiddlcCicld  and  Clicstcr ;  "  tlicv  are  to  I'md  a  sound 
])rcacluT.  if  tliev  can,  and  when  (>l>tained,  tliey  and  he  aro 
to  ho  achnitted  uucUt  the  (^are  of  I'reshyterv."  Dillieulties 
liiid  arisen  in  I'oh'raine,  wliieh  were  now  consich'red — and 
'•A'r.>o/rrf/,  'IMiat,  nnh'ss  they  have  union  and  harmony,  and 
])ay  no  their  arrears  to  Mr,  Ta.L'^Mrt,  his  e(»nneetion  with 
thciu  IS  to  l)e  (Ussolved  hy  n(;xt  nieetinfr."  The  then  stato 
of  their  ease,  a  nienihcr  of  the  session  and  one  from  tho 
eontireu'ation  are  to  re]>ort  at  next  meetintr.  AUhcuiLdi  it 
is  said  that '"  necessity  is  the  mother  of  invention,"  theo- 
loiiical  seminaries  liad  not  yet  hecn  opened  in  America. 
'I'heir  liehls  for  harvest  weri'  now  more  numerous  than 
their  lahorers.  'J'heir  intercourse  with  lrelan<l  was  dimiji- 
islied,and  to  supply  tiieir  va(,'ancies  their  native  iireacher.s 
were  not  sullicient.  "  Jiedford  is  granted  some  supjdy — and 
Mr.  rrouihit  is  to  apply  earnestly  to  Mr.  Vountr,  now  at 
(iunhridue,  X.  Y.,  to  come  anil  supply  P<'!hain  some  Sal)- 
l)aths,  or,  upon  failure  with  him,  to  apply  to  any  other 
orthodox  clertryman,  wIk  nver  Providence  may  open  a 
door."  Jk'  it  remembered,  tin;  term  orthodox,  in  17>)7,  did 
not  hy  any  ni(\nis  convey  the  idea  in  New  En<rland  of  a 
piniile  remove  from  Unitarianism,  a.s  it  does  now,  hut  ono 
who  l)elieved  in  the  oxi^stcnce  of  tho  covenant  of  ^'race,  a 
Calvinist,  a  I'reshytcrian,  or  ono  willini;  to  come  to  Pres- 
hyterianism  and  do  work  according  to  the  Westminster 
standards. 

We  now  for  a  season  turn  from  the  ecclesiastical  to  tho 
pilitical  field.  From  year  to  yt'ar,  after  the  conclusion  of 
)i'  ace,  did  the  representatives  of  tho  coUmies  lahor  to  d(!- 
tail  constitutional  |)rineiples.  such  as  would  mutually 
interest  anil  conihine  all  in  oik^  harmonious  union. 

The  matter  was  both  important  and  dillicult ;  but  at 
last  the  Constitution  of  the  I'nited  States  was  drawn,  and, 
when  conji>leted,  not  oidy  was  it  modelled  almost  entirely 
after  the  form  of  Presbyterian  church  jrovernment,  but  a 
vital  princi|>le  of  this  order  of  eceh'siastieal  polity  was  fol- 
lu\ve(l.  viz.,  that,  before  tiie  constitution  is  finally  ado|)ted 
and  beconu's  bindinL%  it  must  be  overtured.  Haviuir  bor- 
rowed the  model,  the  best  ever  drawn  in  Cliristendoni,  it 
was  both  natural  and  necessary  to  overture  the  constitu- 
tiouj  in  doing  which  it  was  agreed,  that  if  nine  out  of  the 


m 


^1 


2CG 


HISTORY  OF   I'RESnYTKRIANISM 


tliirtcon  colonics  would  ratify  it,  it  should  bn  declared  to 
1»(!  fully  a(l()|»t»'(l  and  to  l)c  hindinj;  on  tlu'in  all.  Mind  in 
Massa(;Iiusi'tts,  cast  in  their  Conj^rc^'ational  mould  of  iso- 
lated ,uroui)s,  or  of  "  an  Atiicnian  (h'Ujocracy,"  is  not  partial 
to  Federal  representation,  and  when  this  heeanie  neces- 
sary, the  jijreat  number  of  .'5')')  dele^iates  were  chosen  to 
form  the  convention,  which  was  calK-d  to  ratily  or  reject 
the  prepared  constitution,  'riiese  assend)led  in  iJoston, 
where  the  famous  old  church  of  Dr.  Colman,  on  ih'attio 
street,  had  been  marked  by  a  cannon  ball,  and  after  seven- 
teen days  of  earnest  and  even  stormy  debate,  it  was  found 
that  the  echo  was  so  troubh'some  that  some  place  of  more 
correct  acoustics  must  be  obtained,  and  obtained  it  was  in 
".Johnny  Moorehead's  jneetinif-house  "  in  Lonj;  lane. 

This  structure  was  of  wood,  in  form  like  not  a  few  of 
such  edifices  at  the  time,  such  as  the  old  South,  with  tho 
]iulpit  hi;i;h  u)>on  the  back  wall,  which  stood  on  the  lane. 
The  principal  door  was  throuudi  the  base  of  the  steeple  and 
beliVy  at  the  corner  of  the  lane  and  llury  street.  To  this 
structure  the  convention  adjourned,  and  after  debating:;  tho 
matter  there  for  seven  days,  on  February  ()th,  178S,  tho 
Federal  Constitution  was  adopted  by  the  small  majority 
of  nineteen  votes.  Ten  wron;:  votes  more  would  have  lei't 
the  colony  of  Mass  ichusetts  Hay,  notwithstandini,'  all  tho 
patriotism  of  her  Adamses  and  her  Hancock,  "out  in  tho 
colli."  There  was  |»rovidentially  an  aj)propriateness  in 
the  place,  the  only  spot  in  the  colony  lU'Voted  by  a  deed 
declaring  a  use  and  enjoyment  of  it  by  Presbyterians  for- 
ever, "to  and  for  the  only  proper  us<>,  benelit  ami  behoof 
of  the  saiil  couirreuation  laecordini;  to  the  tenures  and 
after  the  same  manner  as  the  Church  of  Scotland  hold  and 
enjoy  the  lands  whereon  the  meetiuir-hou.ses  are  erected) 
forever,  and  for  no  other  use,  intent  or  ])urj)ose  whatso- 
ever, with  warranty." 

Although  jierverted  by  schism,  it  was  still  dr  jure  under 
the  Associate  Ivcforined  I'resbytery  and  Synod  of  New 
York.  Such  was  the  spot  on  which  Mnssachusetts  ])asso(l 
from  the  leading  strings  of  colonial  rule  to  the  \vt)manhoud 
of  "  the  old  liay  State." 

When  the  fact  was  announced  by  Slicrifl' Henderson  at 
the  State  House,  amidst  triumph  and  joy,  Long  Lane,  the 
Boil  and  "  the  Irish  meeting-house  "  were  not  then,  as  they 


IN    NEW  ENGLAND. 


207 


arc  now,  forjjjotton — thoy  were  called  Federal  street  and 
Federal  Street  ('hun;h. 

As  tlie  huildiii^f  in  wliirh  and  the  soil  on  which,  in 
I'liila(leli)liiii,  the  Constitution  of  the  I'nitcd  States  Wiis 
adopted,  are  matters  ot"  patriotic  delight,  hordeiint:  on 
veneration  to  every  true  American,  and  arc  preserved  in- 
violate from  (MMitury  to  century;  so,  in  like  manner  tho 
intense  vitaHty  of  national  life  is  shewn  hy  the  citizens  of 
each  State,  to  tiie  huildin.!S  and  ])laces  of  conc(.)Urse  whci'o 
tln>  inspiration  of  State  existence,  as  a  part  of  prospec- 
tively the  tireatest  nation  on  the  earth,  was  heu^un.  After 
Faneuil  Hall,  which  was  also  a  I'reshyterian  foundation, 
the  next  place  to  it  in  importance,  jtolitically  and  civilly 
in    Boston,   was    the   "Old   South    Church," 


where 


tl 


10 


town's  j)eopl»!"  were  hy  j)atriots  aroused  to  the  demands 


)f  dut^ 


'o   preserve   its  identity   a  century  afterwards, 


hcsid(!  ten  thousand  dollars  ji;rantc<l  hy  the  Le^dslaturc 
oratory  has  heeii  spread  out  in  lectures,  dances  on  "tlio 
liudit  fantastic  toe,"  and  exhihitions  of  colonial  relics, 
enouirh  to  decorate  a  pil^rimaue  to  an  holy  ground,  all 
crying,  j^ive,  jrive  money  (and  tliousands  are  yet  wanting), 
''to  sav(!  the  Old  South  ('onuren;ational  niectin^'-house,"  or 
it  will  he  desecrated  hy  trallic. 

On  this  national  feelin<r,  honorahlo  to  ev(Ty  true  citizen, 
"  Fideral  Street  Church  "  must  he  perpetually  pointc*!  out 
with  pride  hy  fathers  to  their  children  from  jj;enerati(^n  to 
generation,  and  the  care  taken  to  j)reserve  it  distiiuitly  in 
location,  and  so  lar  as  practicahlc,  intact  in  structun.'  and 
use  will  shew  the  vitality  and  force  of  national  patriotism 
and  zeal  in  the  hreasts  of  the  sons  and  dauuhters  of  the 
Old  Bay  State,  and  especially  of  those  re>ident  in  'Mho 

"  There  is  Concord,  there  stands  [Junker 


town  of  Boston. 
Iliir'  (  Wt'hstcr),  and  there  is,  stands,  or  there  was,  or 
there  stood  Federal  Street  Church!  That  this  national 
name  should  continue  for  all  time,  would  he  a  matter  of 
sini[)le  honesty,  as  it  was  an  honor  to  the  Con)monwealth, 
Init  then  it  was  born  out  of  wedlock,  hoth  church  and 
State  denied  to  it  jtarentaire,  and  it  contained  "a  pew  and 
scat"  for  the  heirs  of  John  Fattle.  a  Breshyterian,  forever, 
which  then  and  now  represented  in  part  the  (•(.•<tii!,-<  tjnc 
trust  of  the  whole  estate.  It  could  not  be  votc^d  out  of  the 
position  in  which  he  had  placed  it,  so  long  as  ecjuity  should 


26S 


IIISJTORY  OF    rnrsHYTKISIAMfM 


roinaiii  .'i  virtue,  ft  is  also  jtossihh?  that  the  seat  of  Mrs. 
^\'ils()ll  had  iKit  y«'t  itrcn  "soM  to  pay  lor  the  paiiitiiiL'  of 
the  church,"  as  ihc  criiiiiiial  iiKJuction  of  |)r.  I'xlkuaii  IkkI 
taken  place  less  than  a  year  heloir. 

We  leave  these  pews  and  seats  in  this  national  house  to 
trace  other  waninu;  vestiires  of  this  polity  in  our  field. 

In  the  minutes  at  Peterhoro,  April  .""loth,  17SS,  it  is  re- 
t'onh'd  that  *' the  Associate  Iicfonned  i'reshylerv  of.  New 
Kn-fland  met."  '^Salrnint,  Annan,  Houston," Taj}i;art  ami 
Morrison,  ministers,  with  their  elders." 

\\\  a^'cnt  from  the  town  of  Antrim,  \.  Fr.,!isked  I'reshy- 
tery  for  the  ortraui/ation  of  a  church.  This,  hy  a|i|ioin"t- 
nient,  the  Kev.  William  Morrison  eii'eete(i  on  Au,L:ust  .1(1. 
It  oouHiste*!  of  seventy-two  niemhers  under  three  ruling 
elders,  hut  did  not  ohtaiu  a  pastor  for  twelve  vears. 

''Thilip  l{ih'y  he^^'an  this  settlement  in  1711.  Tliero 
was  no  reli^dous  meeting',  prohaitly  not  even  u  praver- 
lueetin^'  in  the  town  for  thirty  years.  The  iirst  sermon 
■was  jireached  to  tiiem  in  Septi'inher,  177.'),  hy  the  Kev. 
William  Davidson,  of  Derry,  and  after  that  thev  *  were 
not  ne«,di;,'ent  in  reli^dous  thing's.'  They  tau.^ht  their  chil- 
dren at  home.  The  Hihle  and  the  eateeliism  were  the 
chief  literatiu-e  in  every  house.  They  kei)t  the  Sahhath 
with  great  reverence.  Jlavinjj;  no  trash  to  n-ad  or  for  their 
children  to  read,  tliey  studied  over  and  over  the  Holy 
]{ook,  and  canu;  to  hold  its  «loetrines  rigidly  and  intelli- 
gently.'' illis.  .sVr.,  p.  1!).)  From  their  organ izati-on  thev 
had  no  jjastor  until  the  liev.  Walter  Little  was  settled  ov(T 
th(;m,  on  Sei)temher  ;;d,  ISOO,  and  hensigneil  Septemher 
4th,  1S()4.  * 

A  Mr.  Merrill,  previously  notice)',  had  appeared  in  I've- 
gate  and  Jiarnet,  and  they  ask  I'resliytery,  wh«-ther  tliev 
can  safely  employ  him  or  not?  They  were  ans\\(red": 
that  "  this  Preshytery  are  totally  opposed  to  him  as  heing, 
in  their  opinion,  unworthy  of  the  ministerial  character  and 
ollice,  and  that  tins  Treshytery  caiuiot  hut  totally  disap- 
prove of  said  jieople  continuing  to  ( nijiloy  him  to  pr(  ach 
uuiong  tiiem." 

"A  ju'tition  from  six  memhers  of  the  clnn-ch  in  IVter- 
])oro,  respecting  the  propriety  of  introducing  a  new  ver- 
sion of  the  Psalms,  was  presented,  and  as  the  ministt  r  and 
eession  had  already  written  to  the  Synod  on  tlu;  allair,  all 


\0 


tlifV 
Iv    ViT- 

r  unci 
liir,  all 


IN    NKW    EN(;i.ANI). 


269 


procrc(lin<rs  of  Proshytorv  upon  it  wcro  waivod  for  the 
j)r('S('iit."  Tlicv  were  iulvisi'd  to  "wait  tlic  decision  of 
Svi'iod,  and  adiuouislicil  not  to  hical-:  the  pi'acr  of  tho 
rliiircli,  ami  if  tlicv  can  no  otlicr  way  .  iiswcr  a  i:<»od  con- 
science tlu'V  do  it  under  coviit  t)f  a  protest  to  l)e  recorded 


mi  tiK'  session 


liook. 


The  "incuralile  dissatisfaction"  was  thus  hnried  ^' do- 
cciitly  anil  in  order."  On  their  re(|uest,  a  limited  su|)ply 
III'  preachinji  was  jfiveii  to  the  town  of  IIanct>ck.  "  Sir. 
TauLMit  was  still  to  lalioi-  in  ("oieraine,  and  the  peo|)Ie  are 
rcconnnended  to  do  their  duty  towards  him.' 

The  "  Kev.  .lohn  Houston  was  a|)pointed  to  sup|)ly 
Middlefield  and  Chester,  and  to  certify  to  them  when  there, 
it"  he  judu'c  proper,  that  they  are  an  oru:ani/ed  I'reshyterian 
church."     liedford  to  \h'  supplii'd  one  Sahhath. 

I'eterhoro,  May  1st,  IT.SS.  "  Vote<l,  that  .Mr.  .Morrison 
write  to  the  Synod  and  ^dve  reasons  why  the  attendance 
of  this  I'reshytery  has  heen  so  much  <imittcd.  and  also  rc- 

lestinj,'  tho    appointment    of  sctme  landidates  to   New 


'U 


Kn'di 


ind 


Londonderry,     Octoher     1st,     IT^S.     The     I'ev.    Aaron 


Hut 


chinson  sat  as  a  c(M-respon< 


lent. 


Hev.  J).  Annan  was 


;i|ipointed  to  ni'cach  in  Chester,  Mass.,  to  make  farther  in- 
(|uiries  into  tlieir  circumstances,  to  see  if  the  eertili<'at«', 
wliich  they  ask  to  the  civil  aiUlntritii-s,  siirnifyini:  that  they 
lire  a  pro|)erly  orirani/.ed  conLM'cjiation.  c;m  he  tirantt'd." 
Ui'side  minor  items,  they  record,  "This  I'reshytery  taking 
into  serious  consideration  the  hroken  state  of  the  I'reshy- 
tcrian  interest  in  New  I'jitrland.  and  the  importance  of,' 
(loin^r  soniethinu'  to  unite  the  varioii-;  hodics  of  j'reshyto- 
ri;iiis.  Voted,  That  letters  he  written— one  to  the  I'reshy- 
tery of  Grafton  and  another  to  the  i'reshytery  at  the  Kast- 
w;ird.  relatintr  to  the  expediency  of  siuiie  proposals  of  ji 
ciiale^cciwe  of  the  several  I'reshyteries." 

W  V  have  seen  a  similar  teelinir  e.\pr»'ssed  hy  the  Saleni 
rrcshytery  and  the  one  at  the  Kastward — "  I'nion  is 
stnu>,'th,"  and  they  now  mutually  felt  the  need  of  it,  as 
tlicy  were  ^M'adually  heini:  overhorne  hy  the  semiscriptural 
ii><;iL'es  ot'  the  Stale  reliudou  «>n  its  native  soil. 

.\l  Coleraine,  May  tt,  17«S{),  in  answer  to  the  one  sent,  on 
the  ahove  recorded  vote,  "a  letter  was  ri'ad  from  the  clerk 
ot'tTrafton  i'retjbytcry,"  responding  in  wordw.  An  ucknowl- 


270 


IIISTOUY    OF    IMtKSin'TKRIANISM 


(!(l;^'m(>ut  jind  nply  was  ddw  ordcnwl  1(»  he  written  liv  Mr. 
'liv^iiiirl.  Petitions  were  nccivrd  tVom  I'.ariicl  and  (Irulon, 
ilic  last  a<'(uni|iani('d  witli  a  cntirKate  ol'  tlicir  incoi|iinii- 
lion,  si;^n<d  liy  the  |(»\vn  diik.  I''ti|-  carli  jiJaiT  >onic  miii- 
])ly  l»y  sclllcd  pastors  was  i^ranlcd. 

"Tliis  l'n'sl)yt<'ry  lindin;^  it  iin|iossilt|r  Inr  any  of  tlidr 
nKinlxTs  to  attend  tin-  next  nicctinL'  <•!  Synod,  and  at  tin- 
hanic  time  cfjnseions  of  the  ini|iintanec  id'  considciin;,' 
with  attention  the  overture  lalelv  |»nl>Hshed  tor  illn-tr 
lion  of  the  (h>etrine  ('(tntained  in  the  Westminster  ('(tiitr 
sion  of   I'^nth,   do   thiid<    it   their  (hitv  to   intimate   tl 


I- 


H'M' 


jnihcial  a|i|»rohalion  ol  tlie  same,  s<»  lar  as  it  is  eonlined  to 
and  takes  njtand  <'xeeiites  the  ilhistration  of  the  doetrii 


II 'S 


of  th(;  said  ( 'onl'ession,  and   (h>  appoint  the  mothrator  nl' 
this  I'reshytery  to  write  to  the  Synod  on  the  snhjeet.'' 


I'eterhoro,   Oetoher    7,    I7S!)-    the    Associate     !{<•! 


onrieil 


I'reshytery  of  New  lOnuland  nn't.  The  llev.  Aaron  lltil<li- 
inson,  Ji  iiKiniher  oftJrallon  I'reshytery,  hein^r  iiresent,  was 
invited  to  sit  with  I'reshytery.  Mr.  Annan  read  a  eopv  nf 
the  letter  whieh  he  was  appointed  to  write  to  (iial'tdii 
I'reshytery,  and  also  their  answer."  .Mntnal  ^'ood  leehn;; 
.Mjtpears  to  have  heen  j^rowin;^  hetween  them.  The  resij;- 
iiation  of  his  olliee,  hy  l']lder  Samilej  Moore,  was  accepted, 
hho\vin<i  th.at  this  was  not  done  merely  to  and  hy  his  ses- 
sion, hut  to  and  hy  the-  superior  court,  in  which,  when  ;ip- 
]iointed,  Ik;  o(r(;npied  an  ecpial  seat  with  theollmrs.  It  this 
wer(!  retpiired  universally,  it  would  constrain  those  wIki 
are  worlliy  to  "  ma^mily  their  ollicc."  "  'Tis  a  consunima- 
ti(»n  devoutiv  to  he  wished." 

"  Londonderry,  .M.iy  '20,  17'.>().  The  Associate!  Ilerorincil 
I'reshyjery  of  New  Mntrland  ii\c[,  srdrnnil,  .Messrs.  .\nnaii, 
M(»rrison  and  Houston,  nunisters,  with  elders  Davidsdii 
and  (Jrillin.  The  Kev.  Mi-.ssrs.  Ilutchin.s(»ii  and  Williams 
sit  as  correspondeiitM. 

";\  memorial  addressr-d  to  the  I'reshytery  of  I'hiladelplii.i 
l»y  the  I'reshytery  at  the  Eastward,  res|tectin;^'  Mr.  .lolm 
Alurray,  was  laid  hefore  the  |'reshyt<ry  hy  the  Kev.  Simon 
Williams,  of  Windham,  entreatiuij;  the  concurrence  of  tliis 
bodv  with  the  jMuport  of  the  same  in  an  address  to  tlic 
I'hiiadelphia  i'reshytery."  "  Voted,  That  .Messrs.  Ann.iii 
und  Morrison  draw  up  a  n-pn-sentation  concurring  with 
thu  lueuiorial,  und  tliut  they  report  the  waiue." 


IN    NKW  i:.\(;/.AM). 


271 


^'r  a.iMMssi<.M,  will.  t).  i'j^;''^^,;:";!";;><'N  x.  u.,  poufio,.,..! 

i'",  ;^-'''^,  .•'I'l-inN.I   wit         ,."  V  ''"^""   '•'••••^''Vt.r      ', 

^.■.  ;l.a(lM,H.|..  *'''•  •^'"'•n.s,.,,    to  (Jr„to,Uo  '\;;' 


t  •     ''<•  1  r(;.sl,y|,,.v  or  l'l,i|.,,i,.|   I-  '^"/"•••^•"tation  UUiih 


•'•sided 
w.is  Void." 

['"'•»»",  dial   ,,., 

Jiicicascd  ||„, 
utalo  wji.-iv  Ml 


.-III, 


ii    cj 


lan-r,.  \vaH 


ri'ndily  h< 


liad   I 


""""•"I    »<>    I'n-sl.vl 

I'lVlISC     aliKiliir     ,...    "l 


'•^nmi^r  over  tl 


<'n  dial,  f 


"""ll^r    ,.,f     |,„,^, 


'■'■'■■iMis/n.     K 


r( 


"^'  .^|Mn|  oi   11,,.;,." 


""    1774   (I 


lie. 


••■'•<>ni(.  iiici 


iiiircli 


casiindv 


.•ISSIIlll. •.<,., I     4..     .1        .  . 


;ui.I  (|„.  J 


sill,,,  (j,,.  I; 


'"'dl.if.-d  to  tl 


ir 

'•'   Miaftcr 

'yl<'ri('s 


tl 


"T  \v,r, 


(',»• 


'••■'Veil    ,,|    ,.|,,,, 

•^"  '•<MI,)|,,.  iVo,,,    tl 


'v  S,a(,'  vcr 


'■'It  ij.s,m|   |,y  ii 


I  (5 


••7';;vas  u„rl<iM;r  „„,,|j, 


•^'<'»' was  al.ai„loi,(.,| 


\! 


All, 


'"•v^''.v<'-  rn.iM ,;;:  (  ;.;;^;;  •:::'^-:''tnd  p..n;,s;;r] 


f;i|, 


"'""■■^  ''""d.!  i,M,.st 


'•'.'I.S  a  1 1,1    IV 


<»iii 


.III), 

in  To 


'^''"   into  a, 


'■;;"^'<"'<'iilly  in,-,.f,  ,1 


l»,'\  o 


"""  ''ccdiiil  will.  ,1.     .    •!      .  • 
'^■'"d;iM,.  ,.v,.....'  ''''":'•"'  "'  t 


i;it  tl 


ihI    th 


'•■Vj»<IIS,'.     ooiisl, 


K'    MIC, 


J    ''-y^  ''•"••  s|,ar|„,M.tl 


iMiod  ri 


'•'\'<'diii-  and  tl 


'IM,  wlion 


K'  nil- 


'"•"II  liiw  iViond  I 


'  "■<"!,  s,.  doll, 


'^fiJ'y  aiiijuully 


•y 


272 


IMSTOKY    OF    I'KKSHYTKUIAMSM 


nlijiro  of  the  hiirdi'iis  laid  on  cimrcli  courts  in  "tukin^'^  cnra 
of  tlio  lions*'  (»f  ( lud,"  tlir  wjint  ol'  tlu'  "  provofiitioii  to  lovr 
iind  to  ;^ood  work^  "  ;isii:illy  enjoyed,  hcsidr  the  ne;:l<  <•! 
of  the  *'  f<';i.^t  f)f  irason  ;in<l  the  jh>\v  of  sold,"  n\\  such  omis- 
sions U-nded  to  ii  luiatioii,  i.-olalin;^'  and  eontraeliii^  to  the 
ov(!rH«!ers  of  (Jods  herita^'c.  Ilrnec,  hy  non-attenchinrc 
they  were  diseouia^/iii;,'  others  and  not  henelitin;:  them- 
selves. ( 'onse(|ueiilly,  they  were  |»lied  willi  hi  hrs  of  iii- 
«|uiry  fof  their  n-asons  of  ahsencr.  On  Se|iteniher  "iS, 
17*M,  Mr.  Samml  Toonihs,  fi<»ni  N<'W  ^'orl<  I'reshytery,  was, 
on  his  own  r»'(|u<'st,  taken  under  earc  M  r.  <  )liver  delivered 
j»aits  of  his  "trials."  .\  v<rl»al  re(|U('sl  for  supply  from 
J)«'rrvwas  pres«'nt,ed,  and  a  similar  our  from  Antrim.  .Mr. 
Toonihs  was  appoint<'d  to  supply  in  th(!  Kast  I'arish  four 
Sahhaths,  in  Chester  one,  and  in  Antrim  four. 

"A  commissioiH'r  from  Ufdjoid  eraveil  advifv  in  their 
eritieal  siluation.  and  also  supply.  .Mr.  ( lliver  was  lieenscd, 
which  was,  on  ()el»ihrr  2llli,du!y  announced  to  Synod. 
Mr.  D.Annan  presented  the  drniission  of  his  chaise  -  nad 
and  laid  on  ihr  tahle.  This  was  tran-ndtled  to  the  Syimd 
for  counsel,  and  th<!  eoiii^rej^ation  ol"  J'rIerlMiro  nolilied  to 
adduce  thr-ir  reasons,  at  ne.\t  nie«'tinj^,  why  il,  should  not 
be  sustaine(|.  \'ulrd  that  Mr.  Annan  repres<nl  this  l'r«s- 
)>ytery  in  Synod  at  their  next  mcetin!/,''  which  he  did  at 
J'hiladelphia  on  Ocloiter  IDth.  lie  was  also  char^^ed  "  to 
make  in«|uiry  respect in^'  the  atfairs  <»f  tin;  l{ev.  .lohn  .Miu'- 
ray  .'it  the  I're.sltylery  of  I'hilailflphia."  At  his  recpifst, 
the  I'reshytery  of  liondondcny  was,  on  said  <lay  (Octnher 
r.),  IT'.M  /,  hy  Synod,  calh-d  the  ^Associate  Reformed  I'ro- 
hytery  «if  New  Mniiland. 

W'hiU'  the  rrcshytery  weri-  yiildin'_'  not  only  to  the 
clamor  of  the  youn)j:  and  imthinkin;^  in  ri  lation  to  hyniii- 
olo;iy,  hut  also  to  town  meetings,  which  voted  (»ut  the  (iDtl- 
jiiven  psalms  and  voted  in  tin'  "  imitations,"  or  dtlirr 
liuman  productions,  as  the  mall<r  of  divine  praise  in  tli<' 
i)arisli  for  the  ensuin;;  ys'i",  •''•'^  ''"'.v  V(4.<<l  in  the  poiini!- 
Keepers,  (lo;.(-killers  and  the  constahhs;  they  found  nf-u 
that  just  U.S  the  appointed  "pure  olftrin;,' "  of  jtraise  was 
hupplanted  in  tlif  ihurchcs  and  silenced  in  the  famili'H, 
that  "  divers  and  straiiji'  doctrims  '  were  jiropauiited. 

As  the  <l«i(:trine  of  imputation  alone  can  <lisplay  the  wil- 
ful ruin  of  a  race  and  the  tiatisfuction  of  divine  justice  for 


IN    NFW    KNC.I.ANI). 


273 


>» 


tlio  sins  of  tliJit  "  multitndc  wliidi  no  man  can  numhor 
so  it  lies  at  the  roini<l;itioii  of  "redemption  tlirou^li  tlio 
lilood  of  ( Mirist ;  "  and  :is  lor  ne.irly  a  ^^eneration  human 
|Mi(try  liad  been  incre.'isin'jly  smi;^  in  the  State  ohurclK^s, 
so  in  proportion  "the  truth  ;is  it  is  in  .lesuH  "  liad  he(!onjo 
(if  less  im|)itrlanee ;  eniise(|U(iitIy,  those  wlioHc;  "hearts 
tremhh'd  for  the  ark  of  (iiid";ii,  times  "Hl'ted  up  their 
voices  hke  a  tnnnpet."  Ilenee,  "  V(»te(l — that  the  thank.s 
III'  this  Presbytery  l»«'  presented  t(»  the  |{ev.  Dr.  Iluntinj^- 
titu,  of  ( 'onneetient,  for  his  l.de  ahh-  and  judieioUH  di-leneo 
of  the  all-important  doelriue  of  impnt.ition." 

At  I'eterhoro,  .M:iy  .".(>th.  I7'.»2,  .snlnimt.  I{(;v.  MessrH. 
Annan,  Ta^'^ari,  and  >h»rrison,  with  l>ev.  .lohn  Houston, 
(ornspondenl,  and  four  elders.     Mr.  Toomlts.  clerk. 

j{i(|nesls  for  siip|iliis,  heside  from  other  plac^^s,  were 
made  hy  Mr.  I'arks  from  ( Jroton,  Mr.  John  Dinwan  from 
Antrim,  Captain  'riiompson  from  I'clham,  and  Mr.  Mor- 
rison from   .New  lloWJey. 

Ijcv.  .Nh'ssrs.  .Miles  and  I *a;:e  sal  as  correspondents. 

A  petition  iron)  the  A.  \{.  I*reshyt<'ry  of  .New  York  was 
read,  askinir  the  lahors  of  .Mr.  Oliver  for  some  time  iimoni^ 

their  ViKlincies. 

.Mr.  .Xnnan's  troiddes  were  now  considered,, ami  eommJH- 
.sioiiers  from  tin;  town  of  I'eterhoro  were  he.ird.  He  askj'd 
t'lir  ,1  ilisiiils.'o'oii,  which  was  <irjmted,  and  the  pastoral  ndji- 
tinii  w;is  dissolved.      His  further  history  hereafter. 

We  h:ive  :dre;idy  seen   the   Tresliytery  at  the  Kastward, 

•  111  June  j.'ttli,  17'.>2,  at  Seahrook,  a|ipointinjjr  as  dtde^ates  to 
a  Synodic.-d  convention,  to  he  hild  at  Dartmouth  ('(diejje, 
oil  .\uL'iist  L'od,  17''-,  for  the  purpose  of  unilinj,'  the  several 
I'nshyleries  into  ji  Synod,  the  llev.  Messrs.  Moon",  W'il- 
liaiii-!,  and  Murray,  and  it  was,  on  .Miiy  .'ilst,  17*J2, "  vot«;d, 
tliiit  the  liev.  .Nhs-is.  .\nnan  and  .Moiii^on  .'ittend  the  ne.xt 
iiiteliui: di"  the  delcii.iles  iVoiii  the  respective  I'reshy tcries 
at  h.irlmoiilh  Colle^'e."    It  is  prohai>h'  that  the  I'reshytery 

•  if  (it-Ml'ton  made  similar  appointmints,  :ind  we  luiV<!  ( in  tho 
iiandwritiini;  of  .Mr.  ,\iui;mi  )  "  preliminarv  articles  of  union, 
tu  III'  suhmitted  to  the  eoiisider;it  ion  of  tlie  respective  I'res- 
'•ytirics.  Miislwanl.  .\.  I!,  of  N.  Iv,and  ( Irafton,  when  they 
^liall  meet  iit  I  )iirlmout  h  ( 'ollei:e,on  the  day  aftiTeonnnencte- 
iiieiil,  Mild  endeavor  to  settle  the  whohi  plan  of  (joalofleenc**, 
and  shall  ai>]M)inl  tjine  yunl  ])lace  for  next  ineetin}.;."     In 

18 


*  1 

\ 


274 


nrSTORY  OF  PRESBYTERTAXISM 


I'' 


\i^ 


la. 


the  n,l)sonco  of  tlic  minntoH  of  the  doinjrs  of  the  said  con- 
vention, we  know  tho  fart  that  tlic  l*n'Hl>yt«'rv  of  (Jrafton 
(lid  not  unite,  that  (hey  did  not  attend  the  adjoiu'ned  unvt- 
in!4  of  said  e(»;iv(  ntion  at  Pendnoise,  N.  II.,  and  that  after 
tho  death  of  tiie  Rev.  .John  Murray  (on  March  l-'ith,  ITU.'ij, 
th(!  fra^rnicntsof  the  Presbytery  at  the  Eastward  and  tlie  A. 
Jl.  Preshytcry  of  New  Kn;,dand  eventually  "  eoaleseed."  In 
the  ineantinio,  "th(!  first  I'reshvterv  of  the  Eastward"  met 
at  Derry,  on  the  first  Wednesday  in  Oetobcr,  IT'Cl,  and  to 
them  the  following  letter  was  addressed: 

•'  Windham,  Si-ptnulxr  Alh,  1703. 
"This  session  having  received  a  letter  from  tlie  Preshy- 
tery  of  Londondc^rry,  of  date  of  May  'i'Jth,  17'.)o,  reiiui'Stiiii,' 
them  to  take  into  serious  consideration  the  utllitj/  and  jtnt- 
pr/d// of  uniting  injudicial  capacity  with  their  Presltyttry, 
taking  no  further  notice  of  the  (Jrafton  Presbytery,  as  they 
liave  roluntarih/  declined  connection  with  us  by  not  attending 
the  convention  at  Pend)roke: 

"This  session  do  cordially  concur  with  the  proposal, 
and  solenndv  recommend  it  to  vou  (as  a  Presbvterv)  to  do 
the  same.  We  jtra)'  that  this  union  may  ct)me  to  a  happy 
issue,  that  harmony  may  be  promoted,  that  tin.'  unity  of 
the  t^pirit  may  be  preserved  in  the  bond  of  peace. 

"Simon  Willia.ms,  Mod'r." 

In  the  absence  of  its  minutes,  this  Presbytery  of  (Iraf- 
ton  appears  to  have  been  a  kind  of  amateur  one,  ])robahly 
galvani/ed  into  existence  by  the  Wheelocks  and  their  iii- 
Huence,  as  a  good  or,  perhaps,  a  little  better  expedient 
than  the  "loose,  disjointed  way"  of  Congregationalism. 
It,  like  the  seed  sown  on  the  rock,  endured  for  a  time,  hut 
was  afterwards  otl'ended  wdien  called  t)n  to  sustain  Preshy- 
terianism  as  the  Scrii)tural-ism  in  government.  Its  con- 
gregations returned  to  bask  under  the  fostering  care  of  tlie 
State,  each  one  to  act  its  own  part  without  Presbyterial 
])arity  or  Synodical  unity.  This  was  well,  Ibr  the  expe- 
dient of  a  merely  nonanal  Presbyterianism  yields  no 
advantiige  in  doctrine,  win'shi|),  or  discipline  over  a  thor- 
oughly associated  Congregationalism  ;  it  is  simjily  calling 
Jesus  "  Master  and  Lord,"  without  d-jing  the  things  which 
he  says. 


IN    NEW    ENGLAND. 


276 


The  momontnin  '/wvn  by  tlio  Rov.  '^^r.  Murray  to  his 
Pr('sl)yt('ry  at  I'^istward  did  not  wlidily  (-(MSf  at  his  (h'ath, 
;iii(l  wt'  liiid  the  town  of  Ni-w  >hirl<('t.  in  July,  17-'-J,  takinjif 
the  usual  stc|)S  [(rt'scrilicd  hy  civil  law  and  then  l>y  that 
Trt'shytiTy  for  tlio  settlement  of  Mr.  Jonathan  l>rown  as 
colleague  with  the  Rev.  Nathaniel  Kwer.     Also: 

"  LoXDONDERliY,  St'ptnnber  2d,  1793. 

"We,  tlie  feeble  remains  of  the  late  Hev.  Wm.  David- 
son's ses!?ion,  which  was  formerly  luxler  the  I*resl»ytery  at 
the  Eastward  -but  it  hath  ifleascil  the  Lord  of  the  harvest 
to  call  home  the  ;j;reater  jjart  of  tiie  members  of  that  Pres- 
bytery, so  that  we  can  have  nt)  more  ludp  from  them  in 
that  way — and  now,  in  thc;.M)o(l  providence  of  (Jod.  having 
a  desiral)le  oi)i»oi1unity  of  joiiiin;^  with  the  bondonderry 
I'rt'sbytery,  whercot"  the  Kcv.  Wm.  .Morrison  and  the  Uev. 
Samuel  'i'a^'".;art  are  mendxrs,  do  ciieerfully  embrace  it,  l)y 
all  our  session  that  were  present,  hopinj,'  that  it  may  be  for 
the  honor  of  the  ^rcat  lli'ad  of  the  Church  and  for  tho 
comfort  and  i-nlarucment  of  it. 

"Signed  by  ordi^r  of  six  elders  in  session,  by 

"John  Moou,  Clerk." 

They  tlius  were  accepted  and  identified  with  the  y\.  R. 
Presbytery  of  New  England  (probably)  at  I'elham,  on  tho 
11th  of  that  month. 

At  a  meeting  of  this  Presbytery  pro  re  luild,  on  July  22d, 
17'Jo,  a  call  was  accepted  by  Mr.  Oliver,  and  on  "  Septem- 
l)er  11th,  after  the;  prescribed  trials  had  heen  sustained,  ho 
wa.>^  ordained  and  mstalled  over  the;  west  (which  was  not, 
it  would  sei'Ui,  the  lirst)  parish  of  Pelham.'*  On  asking 
liis  services,  this  congregation  also  "  recjuested  some  direc- 
tion respecting  psalmody  and  singing."  They  had  doubt- 
less for  years  used  tli(^  "  \'\\)  Imitations,"  and  as  this  Pres- 
hytiiy  had  not  as  yet  "so  learned  Christ,''  they  j)roperly 
iislv  for  instructions,  and  to  tlnni  all  indulgence  connectcnl 
with  the  exislen<r  i»f  this  form  of  ecclesiastical  i)olity  was 
shewn.  The  prayer  of  their  petition  was  "left  to  the  wis- 
dom of  the  session,  who  may  lie  l>est  acquainted  with  that 
mode  which  is  most  conducive  to  public  usefulness.  But, 
in  partieular,  if  the  congregation  sing  without  reading, 
that  they  be  all  advised  to  have  books." 


276 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


At  "  Pctorboro,  October  Otli,  ITOri,  a  mil  from  Nowbiiry- 

Itort  lor  Mr.  Tooinlts,  prcscntcil  ihrou^xh  the  JCastcni  I'ns- 
•ytcry,  was  received,'  and  when  presented  ho  asked  tinu? 
to  consider  it.  wlii<'li  was  jfrante(l. 

The  r<as()ns  lor  not  acctptin^'  the  call  from  Antrim, 
Avhi(;h  he  stated,  were  approved.  Supplies  were  granted  to 
Antrim  and  JN'terlHtro.  The  calling  of  the  jtru  re  imla 
jjjeeting  was  aitprovetl, 

Dnrinj;  the  years  17i>2, ''I,  and  '4,  no  mendxr  of  the  A.  |{. 
Treshytery  of  New  Knirlanil  had  appeiwed  in  Synod,  which 
Avas  a  sonrco  of  grief  to  the  denonnnation.  Nundters,  »)!>- 
tained  even  hy  cxjudlfnri/,  appeared  now  to  he  of  more 
importance  to  them  than  pmity  of  worship  and  fnltilhd 
vows.  Ilenco,  they  say,  "The  expeiheney  of  forminif  a 
miion  with  the  Eastern  I'reshytery  was  c(»nsidcred  anil  ap- 
l»roved.  \'()ted,  (t't/i),  agreeahly  to  the  jiroeeedings  of  th(! 
i'onvention  at  I'clnhroke,  that  the  delegates  he  appoiiiled 
to  form  a  union."  "  Rev.  W'm.  Morrison,  with  ekiers  lull 
nnd  Smith,  are  lierehy  empowered  to  meet  in  convention 
■with  the  \U\\  Solomon  >loore  and  elders  (  amphell  and 
Moore,  of  the  I'^iistern  Preshvterv,  to  foi'm  a  coalescence, 
und  to  dissolve  hoth  I'ri'shyteries  into  one.  on  the  last 
Friday  of  this  inst.  Jf  no  nnion  is  formed.  Treshytcry  is 
to  meet  in  Pelham  on  the  last  Tuesday  in  May,  175M  ;  and 
if  an  union  is  forniecl,  the  new  court  will  appoint  its  own 
time  and  i)lace,  the  clerk  of  sai<l  conveniion  to  give 
liotic(>  to  the  dlderent  members  that  they  may  govern 
themselves  accordingly." 

Fronj  the  "Minutes  of  the  Convention,  which  met  at 
Londond(  rry,  October  I'.'ith,  17i>''i,  for  finishing  the  union," 
we  learn  that  the  meeting  was  held  ace<)rding  to  the  ap- 
pointments of  l)oth  rreshyteries  ;  that  there  were  "  jiresent, 
Kevs.  Sol.  Moore,  \Vm.  Morri.<!on,  and  ./no.  Houston,  min- 
isters, Iv^ip'.  John  r.ell,  Captain  John  Moon,',  and  Samuel 
Campbell  as  ciders."' 

"The  Kev.  Mr.  Ab)ore  preached  from  John  xiii.  'M,  oo.  a 
gormon  very  suitable  to  the  occa.sion."  lie  presided  a.s 
chairman. 

"This  convention,  being  fully  invested  with  power,  ])ro- 
ceeded  to  form  the  union. 

"After j)rayer  and  di'liberation,  vot(>(l : 

"1st.  To  adopt  the  Westminster  Confession  and  Gate- 


IN   NEW   ENr.T.AND. 


277 


chisms,  (liroctorv  for  worship  and  form  of  povrrnniont,  as 
tliP  standards  ot  tliis  Prosbytory,  in  suliordination  to  tho 
word  of  ( lod. 

"id.  That  tho  Prcshytcry  shall  he  called  tho  Presbytery 
of  liondondcMTv. 

"Md.  That  Dorry  oast  and  west  parishes  alternately  ho 
the  places  for  stateil  nieetin,t.'s,  unless  otherwise  speciallv 
r(t|Uested  by  sonu;  other  town  or  parish,  for  special  busi- 
ness there. 

"Ith.  That  the  Presbvterv  meet  at  the  east  meeting- 
house  on  the  last  Wednc^sday  of  May.  \'\)\. 

5th.  That   upon   these   principles   the   union  bo  and 


herd 


)V   IS  ( 


losed. 


Tho  Kev.  \V.  .Morrison,  on  rcfpiest,  pave  a  partinj;  ad- 
dress, and  is  to  open  tho  first  meeting'  wit'i  a  sermon. 

Since  tho  centi'tmial  year  (  l.s7<ji,  tlu;  travt'ller  westward 
can  traverse  tho  .Atlantic  watershed  by  soifio  four  or  mor 
partly  parallel  railroads  throuudi  Towa,  and  whether  hu 
('i\tor  the  eye  of  the  needle  at  Omaha  or  make  a  detour  of 
a  few  hundre(l  milo  by  Uenvcr.  still,  when  ho  reaches 
Cheyenne,  all  travel  is  concentrated  on  one  track  over  tho 
Rocky,  tho  Wahsatch,  and  Nevada  M(»untains.  Similar 
has  Iteen  and  is,  at  the  close  of  this  (piarter  of  a  century, 
in  171>.'),  our  Presbyteriaiiism  in  New  Kmzland.  We  have 
had  four — or,  including  the  Synod  and  its  three,  in  all 
seven — Presbyteries  in  sixty-liv(^  years  in' the  land  of  tho 
Puritans.  Tho  ni(»unt;nns,  the  slutre  of  Salt  liake,  and  th(j 
desert  nuist  be  travclN-d  by  rail  on  only  one  track;  and 
now  we  have,  in  this  rej^ion,  to  end  tho  Presl»yteriaiusm 
of  Now  Kn^dand  with  only  one  Presbytery  at  tho  close  of 
the  ei^^hteeuth  century!  To  it  :is  a  plant  tlu^  soil  was 
must  un<,'enial,  the  climato  unproi»itious.  and  the  malaria 
noxious,  l^ider  tlu^  shadow  ol  a  native  s|)ecies  of  church 
l)olity  supported  bv  tho  civil  power,  it  existed  only  in  op- 
position to  u'reat  disadvantatres,  and  these  were  doubled 
liy  the  "tastes"'  of  men  who  did  not  "receive,  observe,  nor 
keep  pure  and  entire  all  such  reliL'ious  worship  and  ordi- 
niuutes  as  (io»l  had  appointed  in  his  woril."' 

We  have  thus  seen  the  introdurtiitn  ;iiid  riwlh  of  F*res- 
hyterianism  in  New  Kn^dand.  Duriu::  tlir  li:>t  ;;eneration, 
while  those  who  brou<;ht  it  to  the  rcizioii  survived,  it  was 
niaintaincd  on  divine  authority,  as  a  gt)vernment  adminis- 


278 


HISTOUV   OF    rUKSnYTKUIAMSM 


terofl  bv  men  who  were  "njithercd  together  in  tlio  nnnift 
of  our  fiord  Jrsus  Christ,"  "witli  the  power  of  our  litird 
.Ief»u.s  Christ,"  to  "take  care  of  tiie  liouse  of  (Jod;"  t'anii- 
lies  were  nurseries  for  the  eliurch,  in  which  the  "  h)viii;,' 
kin(hiess  of  (iod  was  shewn  forth  in  the  niorninj:,  and 
Ins  faithfuhiesH  (U'clared  every  nij^ht;"  the  Sahhath  was  a 
day  not  only  of  rest,  hut  of  joy  and,  in  the  words  of  a 
nio(h'rn  errorist,  wearing  the  I'reshytcrian  name  ( Swing  i, 
their  "  Calvinism  was  a  jneachahh-  and  a  |)rca(;he(l  dor- 
trine."  NVc  are  not,  however,  to  su|)|iose  that  all,  who 
came  from  Kurope  as  ndnisters,  "  magnilied  their  ollice.'' 
Some  of  them  ended  their  career  as  desperate  villains, 
especially  the  first  two  incunihents  of  I'eterlxtn*,  N,  II. 
To  prove  this  awful  assertion,  in  relation  to  Annan,  1 
•  juote  the  Rev.  .1.  II.  Morrison's  century  address. 

"  He  was  (Icjiosed  from  the  ministry  in  ISOO,  and  died 
in  Ireland  in  1802.  He  jxisscssimI  respectahle  talents,  and 
might  easily  have  retained  the  confidence  of  his  people. 
But  his  int<'m}terate  habits,  his  licentious  and  corrupt  con- 
versation, and  his  haughty,  over-hearing  manner  at  length 
deprived  him  of  their  respect  and  regard.  So  brutal  was 
liis  treatment  of  his  wife,  who  was  an  estimable  woman, 
that  she  was  compelled  to  pass  the  whoh;  night  with  her 
children  in  the  woods;  she  finally  obtained  a  bill  of 
divorce  on  the  ground  of  extreme  cruelty." 

"They,  Morri^ton  and  Annan,  were  the  only  settled  pas- 
tors in  the  place  fcr  fifty  years.  During  this  dark  |)criod 
religion  was  kept  alive  by  religious  exercises  in  the  family, 
rather  than  by  pui)lic  nnnistrations." 

"Our  people  were  always  readers,  and  tl^e  Bible  was 
almost  their  only  book.  Here  they  went  for  counsel  and 
support;  it  was  to  them  prophet  and  priest.  Family 
imiver"  (that  is,  as  we  have  seen  at  West  Running-brook 
in  /^erry,  worshin  by  j>rayer,  reailing  and  singing  psalms) 
"  was  faithlully  oltserved.  Morning  and  evening  the  Scrip- 
tures wen?  read,  and  if  the  flame  of  devotion  burned  <liiii 
in  the  liouse  of  public  worship,  it  was  not  ptM'mitted  t<>  go 
out  upon  the  family  altar."  A  noble  testimony.  \Vhil(\ 
"from  the  earliest  lime,  that  church  was  Calvinistic  an<l 
Presbyterian"  till  17*J'2,  "it  is  a  matter  of  surprise  that 
those  two  ministers  were  Imrne  with  by  the  jn'ople."  "  R 
is  accounted   for  in  part"  by  Mr.   M — ,"  because  of  the 


ill! 


IN    NKW    KNiil-AND. 


279 


proat  voneration  attache*!  to  tlir  profession."  "  Ministers," 
said  oinj  at  the  i-oinmeneeinctit  of  the  diHieiilties  with  Mr. 
^^)rris(m,  "are  e(l;;eil  tools  and  we  maun  aye  he  earefu' 
how  we  haiidh'  them."  "  Keep  yoursel'  to  yoursel',"  sai«l 
an  elder  of  the  church  with  ^reat  solemnity  to  his  son, 
who  waH  he^inninj^  to  intimate  that  Mr.  Annan  was  not 
what  he  shouhl  l»e.  A^ain,  those  iidnist«-rs,  though  wron^ 
in  pra(!ticc,  were  supjiosed  to  he  "sound  in  the  faith,  and 
an  error  in  helief  was  <'steemed  to  he  far  more  dnnj^erous 
than  one  in  heart  or  hfe." 

Thus,  the  original  Londonderry,  or  ''  Irislj  "  Preshytery, 
had  an  existence  of  prohahly  t!iirty-five  or  thirty-seven 
years;  the  Jioston  I'reshytery  a  career  of  forty-six  years; 
the  I'reshvterv  at  the  Kastward  of  tAventv-one  years;  the 

tit  .  V  ? 

(iralton  rreshytery  an  e.xistence  of  prohahly  fifteen  or 
more  years,  and  the  other,  under  the  names  of  the  As.so- 
ciate  Ilefornied  Preshytery  of  Londonderry,  the  Associate 
Reformed  Preshytery  of  New  Knj;Iand  and  again  of  lion- 
donderry,  "coalesced"  with  the  scattered  frajzments  of  the 
others  and  continued  to  bo  a  working  Preshytery  for 
Boventy-six  years.  Its  history,  with  those  of  the  Preshy- 
teries  of  Newburyport,  Connecticut,  Boston,  Vermont  and 
Bccond  Boston,  together  with  the  congregations  of  the  Re- 
formed Presbyterians  in  New  England,  will  (D.  V.)  form 
our  second  volume. 


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HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 

IN 

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VOL.  II. 


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HISTORY  OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


283. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


1793-1818 — Four  parallel  railroad  lines — The  one  no  wider — Frag- 
ments of  Presbyteries — Not  so — An  expedient — Setni-Krastianism — 
Batii  Kol — Tiie  force  of  truth — .Starved  out — The  ofHce  of  elder — A 
corresponding  eHLrt — Tlie  tliird  vital  power — Tripod — Contest — 
"(Jenevan  jigs" — Control — Truth — Tlie  leaven — The  rear  rank — A 
matter  of  opinion — Tlie  Bay  State  Version — Producing  for  a  genera- 
tion— Assimilation — A  change — The  Godhead — Sapped — The  Old 
South — Repaired — King's  Cliapel — The  thread  of  Apostolic  succes- 
sion— Discarded — In  1785 — The  protoplast — The  clerk — Their  rea- 
der— By  power — Metamorphosis — Freedom  idolized — Disregard — 
Murray  since  1773 — A  through  ticket — "Arminianism  respectable" — 
Freewill  Baptist — New  gods — Extensively  shorn — Revived — Chev- 
erus — "The  town's  people" — The  golden  age  of  Boston — The  influ- 
ences of  these  conil)ined  ingredients — Weight  and  force  assimilate — 
Oversiiadowed — Pew  patroinige — No  reinforcements — "  The  elect's 
sake" — Less  a  matter  of  ambition — Like  passions  with  others — Easy 
to  see — Domestic  training — Could  not  be  expected — Fragments — 
Death  of  Rev.  W.  Davidson — Brown — Opposition — His  ordination 
unwise — A  pretext — Prepared  the  way — A  single  life — Abandoning 
relations — Baldwin — Taggart — Dana  installed  in  N'  vburyport — Dis- 
Jruption — Mr.  Milton  from  Trevecca — "Better  ediiication  " — "Inde- 
pendent Calvinistic  Church" — Form  of  installation — And  behaved 
well — A  charge — Prospect  Street  Church — The  deacon  pla  ■]  the 
Apostle — A  spectacle — "Thin  and  tenuous  film"  of  power — i'l  nary 
— Vowed  to  obey — Submit  yourselves — Claims  ignored — For  six 
years— Concessions — Removal  of  censure — Average  admissions — S. 
Foiub  called  thrice — A  remonstrance — Dissentients — Opposition  to 
Dana  a  misunderstanding — A  peace  measure — Second  Presbyterian 
Church — First  Church  aflectionate — To  escape  oppression — Another 
denomination — Murray  unwilling — Not  customary — Parish  districted 
— Safety  of  the  church — Session  the  safety  of  the  church — Records  of 
Presbyteries — A  convention,  October,  1793 — An  union — Approved, 
Newmarket  and  Antrim — To  have  "Bedford  act  consistently  with 
Christian  character" — Pickles — Action  of  employers  condemned — 
The  action  of  Newburyport  session  confirmed — Supplies — Nearly  the 
whole  mass — Absorbed — "A  felt  want" — Joel  Barlow — His  callings — 
National  Convention  of  France  Atheists — Revised  139  psalms — As  a 
morning  star  unsavory — Dr.  Dwight  employed — Imitations  allowed 
in  17S7 — Moral  sentiment  waxing  feeble — Changes — "Imitations" 
vamped — General  Assembly,   U.  S.j   17S9 — West  Derry  petitions— 


284 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


r:s  >    V.  Jti: 


Session  to  act — Varied  matters — Toombs  installed — Amherst  Associa- 
tion— Pidgeon — Eight  ministers  and  fourteen  elders  meet — Abimd- 
ance  of  business — Advice — Peterboro  call  sustained — Coleraine  to  l)e 
seasonably  notilied — Jordan — Morrison  to  answer  a  letter  I'roni  Synod — 
Presbyteries  to  deal  honorably  with  I'ongregationalists — Coleraiiu'  to 
agree — Morrison  to  say  so  to  them — Presbytery  attenuated — lUtlicid 
in  "strife  and  vain  glory" — T;iggart  asks  releasi'— Not  granted — 
Windham  asks  preaching — lioddily's  installation  valid — Kast  I)errv 
asks  the  "imitations,"  Septemljer  0th,  ]7*.)7 — West  Dcrry  three  years 
in  advance — Synod  grieved — Ajjpliances  in  vain — (Character  of  the 
causes  imperfectly  comprehended — Oidy  a  little  ditli^rent — The  one 
will  root  out  the  other — Answer  to  a  letter  and  one  to  an  address — 
History  repeating  itself — Prentice  forty-five  years  ago — Now  creeping 
into  houses — The  emotional  powers — This  class  increased — Brown 
obeyed — "Straggling  persons"  encouraged  by  Ewer — "Voted" — 
Vacant  churches  warned — "Such  as  I  am" — Maine — Well,  to  "go 
and  do  likewise" — Rhode  Island  sects — A  peculiarity  cf  Presbyterian 
church  government — A  painful  interest — Washington,  N.  Y.,  Presby- 
tery, May  30th,  1794 — Synod,  Rev.  R.  Annan  to  write  for  it  to  Lon- 
donderry Presbytery — lie  reported — "(Certain  information  received" 
— Town  meetings  ruling  Presbytery — Reproached — A  committee  to 
visit  Presbytery — To  be  informed  also  by  letter — The  letter,  June  1st, 
1795 — A  strong  remonstrance — They  answer  and  glory  in  nund)ers 
and  light — A  new  king  enthroned — A  contrast  to  Westrunning  Brook 
and  Casco  Bay — "Most  plaintive" — A  letter  from  Synod,  January 
24th,  1797 — "Stating  their  views  and  grounds  of  complaint" — A 
masterly  argument— M.itcliless  and  unanswerable — A  rei)ly  on  May 
30th,  1797 — Good  intentions — Providentially  {)reventea — Case  de- 
ferred— None  froni  J^ondonderry  Presbytery  next  two  meetings — To 
see  if  to  dissolve  the  connection  would  be  beneficial — Only  ^Morrison 
and  Taggart  now  appear  to  have  been  trained  as  Presbyterians— A 
mild  form — Advantage — Ignored  a  Synod  which  prevented  will  wor- 
ship—"Changes  borrowed"— "P\dt  want"— The  harp— Voted,  Oc- 
tober 9,  1799,  to  obtain  and  peruse — R.  Annan  reappointed  in  1799— 
No  reply  to  him  in  1800 — No  member  in  Synod  in  1801 — Minute — 
Presbytery  disclaimed — The  process  of  assimilation  Cduipleted — Ex- 
cepting in  godly  families  "to  the  moles  and  to  the  bats" — In  both 
versions — The  Presbytery,  Se}>tembcr  6th,  1797,  "  Moor,  Whipple  and 
Boddily  correspondents" — "The  act  valid" — Little  licensed — New- 
bury received  and  Toondis  installed,  November  28th — June  r2tli, 
1799,  assistance  to  ordain  Mr.  Slea  at  Byelield  not  granted — Necessity 
for  sending  preaching  to  the  frontiers  of  New  Hampshire — The  letter 
to  be  answered — D.  .Vnnan's  case  attende<l  to — Presbytery  now  incon- 
sistent— They  would  not  lend  to  ordain  Slea,  and  now  borrow  to  or- 
dain Little  at  Antrim — A  peace-oficring — Little  asks  Presbytery  to  bo 
so  kind  as  to  excuse  him — Excused  from  giving  his  popular  sermon 
on  account  of  visiting  so  many  sick — He  is  ordained  September  2<l, 
1800 — Constitution  to  be  considered,  sermons  to  be  criticised — D. 
McGregor  licensed,  June  9th,  1802 — Taggart  applies — Dana  directed 
— Assembly's  Constitution  adopted,  October  13th,  1802,  in  substance, 


IN    NEW   ENGLAND. 


285 


'-A 


not  In  toto — Still  unprepared  to  unite — Giles  installed — Colby — Pem- 
broke— (JliostiT — Prcsl)_vti'ry  cannot  p;rant  ( Joil'stown's  ri'iinest — D. 
Met  irej^or  oa He'd  to  Hfdl'ord  —  Letter  iVom  town-cliTk  of  i'l'terhoro — • 
Tiieir  fatiier's  property— I'rcsltytery  reconuiiend  intrreoMiniunion — 
Proiuiseiious,  not  in  use  iiitluTto — Oliver  demits — lie  is  eiTtiliod — 
Tlie  Associate  Presbytery  of  Cainhridu'c,  ()ctol)er  l")tii,  bs()4 — IFe 
broke  bis  pledu;e  to  tiie  Associate  Presl)ytery — Rev.  D.  Mctire.LCor  and 
lie<lford — Little  released — Jinie  I'itli,  ISO"),  recommended  to  tlie  Ah- 
soeiate  Reformed  Presbytery  of  Wasbington,  N.  Y. — October  9ili, 
PLirris  installed  in  Windbam — "Tbe  enticing  words  of  man's  wis- 
dom " — A  new  eertilicate  granted — New  Boston — Rev.  E.  Ibadl'ord — 
Presbytery  meetings — "  Pidgeon  reprehended'" — Appointments  made, 
June  11  til,  18U7,  for  Synod  at  Cooperstown,  N.  Y. — Pidgeon  sus- 
pended— Minot,  in  Maine,  want  bini,  and  they  are '' informed  of  the 
rf,su/<  of  Presbytery" — Winton  settled  at  Antrim — Letter  from  Dr. 
John  Smith  on  L'nion — An  inference — Cluirch  at  Dartiuoutb  to  con- 
nect with  Presbytery — Rotation  meetings — Litchtield  received — Pel- 
ham  peojtle  inconsistent — S2o()  additional — "To  negotiate  a  connec- 
tion " — Moderator  to  answer  a  vote  of  the  (reneral  Association  of  New 
ILimpsbire — Octolicr  L!()th,  KSOl),  residt  of  nussion  to  Synod — Dana  to 
the  Assembly,  IslU— Baldwin  dismissed  from  Palmer — End  of  Pec- 
ords  of  Second  Presbytery  of  Londonderry  at  1810 — A  copy — By  loss 
of  Records  we  intist  draw  from  incidental  sources — In  Vermont  Kec- 
ords  of  psalm-singing  churches — The  pleasantness  of  domestic  worship 
lost  extensively — "Expressive  silence" — Federal  Street  Church — 
Belknapp  published  history  and  poetry — Poi>kin — EHicts  of  misrule 
and  no  rule — Trust-deed  operative  formerly  with  the  owners — Not  so 
now — Like  savages — Pay  as  Oiey  pleased  now — Chaiuung — Neither 
orator  iu)r  nund)ers  brought  peace — Nabotb's  ofll'r— Legislature  in- 
voked— Acti(m  taken — Not  too  far  off  to  whisper  to  its  owner — Con- 
science yet  extensively  a  power — That  oath — Aided  by  the  bar — The 
seasons — The  want  of  legal  authority — The  occupants  make  "  their 
coiu'age  cheery" — A  document — The  religious  society — Act  passed — 
Furtive  legislation — The  last  i)arish — Presbyterianism  robbed  of  a 
place  of  sepulture  on  its  own  groinul — Channing  installed  as  a  Trini- 
tarian— All  were  sinking  togetlier — Controversy  was  rife — Little  com- 
munion among  churches  with  each  other — Hopkiusianism,  Emmon- 
ism — Sapping — The  new  preacher  has  at  times  a  charmed  character 
— A  contract  made  seveiUy-foiu*  years  before — A  parsonage — Smooth 
things — Tiie  tidal-wave— lie  was  not  a  perfect  exccjdion —  VciinoiU — 
A  coeilicient — The  sovereignty  of  the  Green  motuitains — Barnet  and 
Ryegate— Dr.  Witherspoon — Whitelaw — "The  Scots-American  Com- 
pany"— This  purchase  from  Dr.  Witherspoon — "The  Farmer's  Com- 
pany"— Harvey — iMiiigrants  worshipped  God  in  their  families — 
Eilbrts  to  obtain  jiuiilic  religious  ordinances — Dr.  Witherspoon's  visits 
to  them^Saihlle  bore  the  mark  of  the  ball  that  killed  his  son — 
"Caledonia"  Company — Crime  but  little  known — A  form  of  religion 
chosen  in  Barnet — Petition  for  a  minister — Kev.  Thomas  Beveridge — 
r.«v.  D.  Goodwillie — Rev.  W.Gibson  settles  in  Ryegate — Polls,  clocks, 
scholars,  town  valuation — Their  lives  often  endangered — Endurance 


..      \ 


28G 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


required  in  winter  to  attend  public  worsliip — "Tntermipsion,"  Low 
Hjii'Ut — '■  S;il)l)atii-(l:iy  lioust's  '' — Miss  II.  SuaviT's  lioiise — Stoves  came 
slowly  into  use — So  far  as  lo  apiircciatc— ( Jooihvillic  lor  above  twenty 
years — Oiitgrowib— Their  vow.- — Dwelt  alone  and  prosiiered — No 
voice  of  Joy  east  of  the  Connecticut  while  they  read  and  prayed — The 
lU'Us  and  others — "  Kxjtressive  silence" — The  one  conne(•tin^  Hide — 
OfHcial  duties  performed  by  Pnsbytery — Connecting  link  between 
Synods — I'resbytery  of  Londonderry,  their  actinjrs,  till  1818 — Key. 
W.  Morrisoti  died  1818 — Kev.  S.  MOore  died  in  IS(lt) — lialdwin  an 
inevitable  const'tiueni'C — E.  I^.  Parker  lieensetl  by  (irafton  I'resbytery 
in  1807  —  Extinct  in  18]() — Ecclesiastical  and  educational  matters  now 
increasingly  controlled  by  the  State  religion — This  brought  strife  in 
1817 — Spoliation  of  property  increases— ,Eirst  Parish,  1809 — Jonah 
and  his  luiion — Parker  ordained,  Septend)cr  12lh,  18](),  by  a  ludf- 
way  arrangenu'Ut — In  ninety-one  years  the  old  mother-chiMch  hiid 
only  one  life  aruniity,  and  had  settled  her  last  nominal  J'resbyieriau 
minister — It  took  forty  years  to  shunt  her  ofl^ — A  new  form  of  opposi- 
tion— Unitarianism — Negations — The  ])rinciples  and  doctrines — Jesus 
liad  no  more  pre-existence  than  any  other  man — None  will  perish— 
Elevated  to  the  highest  plane. 


"^.ViiiLE  we  can  easily  understand  liow  nil  tlic  passengers 
and  trailic  from  four  or  nioro  parallel  railroad  lines  can  l)o 
taken  ujion  one,  and  yet  that  one  tloes  not  grow  an  inch 
wider  from  Cheyenne  to  Saeramento ;  still  we  would  natu- 
r.'illy  expect,  that  when  the  fragments  of  the  Preshytery  of 
Salem  (which  seemed  to  ho  in  modcritte  working  order, 
Avlien  it  was  conijiosed  of  \\'iiitt;iker,  I\.'rley  and  Strick- 
land, present ;  and  Baldwin,  Ualeh,  Miltimore  and  Urqu- 
liart,  absent ;  and  wlien  tit  (Jray,  in  Maine,  on  Septenilier 
14th,  1791,  it  adjourned  sine  die)  saw  the  other  two  Pres- 
byteries unite,  some  individual  ministers,  or  congregations, 
\vould  seek  their  fellowship.  Put  not  so.  They  were  ]irob- 
al)ly  all  (excepting  ]^)aldwin)  witli  congregations,  Avhich 
liad  come  to  Presbyteritmism  as  an  exjx'dient,  not  on  ])rin- 
ciple  from  positive  convictions  of  its  divine  origin  and 
authority,  and  in  some  cases  tlic  :jemi-Erastianism  of  tlie 
Sttite  church  controlled  tlu^  ministry  and  eldersliip.  Since 
the  war,  as  noticed  in  Baf/i  KnI,  tlio  force  of  truth  Avas  less 
felt,  God  was  less  honored,  the  love  of  many  waxed  cold, 
and  iniquity  was  abounding  inrre.'isingly  ;  hence,  some  of 
them  as  Dr.  Whittaker,  after  being  starved  out,  emigrated. 
Urquhart  removed  eastward,  and  died  near  iNIirimichi, 
New  Brunswick. 

The  return  of  peace  to  the  colonies  had  a  further  effect 


IN    NEW    ENGLAND. 


2S7 


on  the  State  churches  of  New  England,  in  allowinf]^  the 
oiricc  of  ehler  to  Uout  into  oblivion.  ( 'onsequently,  the  in- 
llucnce  of  this  one  of  "the  customs  of  the  churches"  had 
witli  the  flight  of  time  on  the  I'resbyterian  vitality,  pre- 
viously existing,  a  corresponding  etlect. 

As,  in  this  last  one-third  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the 
introduction  of  the  third  vital  power  of  Po})ery  into  Pro- 
testantism is,  pari  ])fW6»,  weakening  it ;  as  the  confes- 
sional, transubstantiation.  and  choirs  with  the  organ  are 
the  tripod  upon  winch  Popery  mainly  rests,  so  any  of 
tliese,  hut  especially  the  last,  being  removed,  it  would 
to[)i)le,  its  proselyting  attractions  would  tiien  be  lost,  for 
Protestants  could  not  1)C  proselyted  with  either  the  confes- 
sional or  transubstantiation,  or  with  both,  or  with  beads, 
baldachins  and  holy  water  thrown  in.  The  contest  lies 
mainly  between  the  "Genevan  jigs"  (as  the  })aj)ists  nick- 
named the  Psalms  when  sung)  and  choirs,  hymns  and  or- 
gans. So  the  increased  ai)ing  "the  gorgeous  conij)ositions 
which  are  heard  in  the  Romish  church  "  by  nominal  Pro- 
testants, is  obtaining  progressively  that  control  over  the 
mind  which  the  Divine  authority  of  revealed  truth  ought 
ever  alone  to  maintain,  and  permeating  a  large  part  of  the 
so-called  "evangelical"  churches  witii  the  leaven  of  will- 
worship.  In  a  similar  manner  the  purity  of  the  doctrine 
and  the  excellence  of  the  morals  of  the  Puritans  fell  into 
the  rear  rank,  while  Congregationalism,  in  worship,  be- 
came increasingly  a  matter  of  opinion  under  the  elastic 
forces  of  "the  customs  of  the  churches."  The  psalmody 
of  the  pilgrims  was  gone,  and  the  Bay  State  version  of  the 
Puritans,  about  this  period,  became  increasingly  super- 
seded by  the  parts  of  189  of  the  Psalms  imitated  and  in 
use,  producing  for  a  generation  much  "  strife  and  vain- 
glory " —  all  which,  by  tiie  })rinciple  of  assimilation, 
brought  the  Presbyterians  to  give  up,  in  several  particu- 
lars, their  "thus   saith   the    Lord''  for  the  "tastes"  of 

llUMl. 

The  State  religion  had  always  maintained,  under  the 
severest  penalties,  the  Godhead  of  the  Trinity.  Until  178() 
it  was  blasphemy  to  deny  this,  yet,  witli  the  increasing 
diversity  of  human  opinions,  as  these  supplanted  the  au- 
thority of  the  Divine  word,  even  this  foundation  was  in 
du3  time  sapped.    The  Old  South  meeting-house  having 


I 


288 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


been  desecrated  liy  tlie  British  military,  on  the  evacu.ation 
of  JJoston,  that  conureuation  (K'('U])iL'(l  tor  years  Kin;j,'s 
cliapel  (founded  in  lO.SIJ),  from  which  all  orders  of  jjrelacy 
had  departed;  and  wlien,  having'  repaired  their  chureh, 
they  returned  to  it,  ieavint;  the  other  nnoeeui)ied,  and  it 
eontinued  so  for  some  time.  The  tin'ead  of  apostolical 
succession  over  the  jiremisrs  held  formerly  hy  the  Bishoi) 
of  London  became  too  attenuated  to  retain  in  it  even  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity. 

Every  vestige  of  prelac}'  (exee})tiii<i  a  few  outward  forms) 
was  discarded  by  tiie  overwhelming  force  of  C(jngregation- 
alism,  and  while  in  that  chapcil,  in  1785,  it  was  introduced 
into  America,  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Chui'ch  was  guilt- 
less of  tlie  crime  of  reprochicing  there  the;  i)rotoplast  of 
Socinianism.  On  reoccupying  the  editiee,  the  only  de- 
nominational otiicial  remaining  was  the  clerk;  and  in 
order  to  give  form  to  their  religious  assemblies,  the  })eople, 
by  vote,  elected  him  to  be  their  redder,  by  the  ])ower  uf 
Congregationalism,  which  they  assumed  and  adopted. 

Tlie  next  thing  in  their  metamorjihosis  was  to  change 
the  doctrine,  and  they  adopted  tlie  theological  views  in 
part  of  an  English  h^ocinian  of  the  name  of  (Tarke.  The 
liuman  mind  ever  idolizes  freedom,  and,  as  a  counterpart 
to  national  existence  and  inde])endence,  disregard  of  doc- 
trine grew  apace.  ^Murray  had  previously,  since  1773, 
propagated  (where  he  could)  the  doctrinal  opinions  of  ^h'. 
James  Relly,  giving  a  through  ticket  to  Paradise  univer- 
sally to  the  race.  "Arminianism  "  (as  we  have  seen)  had 
"btcomc  respectal>lo,"  and  one  lU'njamin  Randall,  in  1780, 
began  to  preach  as  a  "Free  Will  Baptist  "in  New  Dur- 
ham, N.  H. 

With  the  return  of  peace  "  new  gods  came  newly  up." 
"  Divers  and  strange  doctrines  "  were  propagated  with  a 
zeal  worthy  of  a  better  cause,  and  in  1791)  the  State  religion 
in  Massachusetts  was  extensively  shorn  of  her  preroga- 
tives. Protestant  prelacy  and  Wesleyan  Methodism  l.)otli, 
in  a  few  years  (after  peace  Avas  concluded),  returned  to  and 
revived  in  New  England.  "  During  the  war,  according  to 
D'Arcy  McGee,  the  AbV)e  la  Poitre,  a  chaplain,  collected  ;i 
papal  congregation  in  Boston,  wliich  bought  the  French 
Presbyterian  cliurch,  and  alter  171)G  Priest  Cheverus,  with 
his  beads,  crucifixes,  ointment,  organ,  chrism  and  man 
millinery,  gradually  attracted  '  the  town's  people.' " 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


289 


3al 


Tlio  closo  (if  tlint  oontnrv  ;\as  considororl  to  ho  "tho 
fioldou  Mtic "  of  l^oston,  iuid  l)y  Lis  l)landishments,  liis 
xniivHcr  ill  modi),  liis  Frcncli  Ctlie  laiiiruauo  of  courts i,  ho 
made  ail  incrcasiiiLdy  lavoralilc  imiircssiou  on  tlie  chiklrcii 
of  llu!  I'uritans.  Tlio  inlliu'ncos  of  tlicso  combined  inure- 
dicnts  of  the  social  compact  were  such  as  to  "gain"  to 
'']»ui'o  and  unddiled  rcli'jion"  "much  harm  and  loss," 
t'spccially  ainoni^;  l^'oshytcrians. 

W'lierc  any  form  of  roliiiion  stronp;ly  predominates,  the 
Avoight  and  force  of  sectarian  numbers  proportionally  as- 
similates to  itself  minor  existences;  and  Avhile  I-*reshyteri- 
auism  continued  in  sonu^  places  to  have  "a  name  to  live," 
it  was  overshadowed,  its  doctrine  deteriorated,  its  govern- 
ment supplanted  and  its  ])laces  of  Avorship  alienated  hy 
the  pew  patronage  of  the  State  religion.  'J'hc  ministry  re- 
ceived no  reinforcements  of  such  men  as  McGregor,  or 
]\Ioorehead,  or  Robert  Annan,  from  lands  sealed  by  tho 
blood  of  martyrs. 

To  "endure  all  things  for  the  elect's  sake,  that  they 
might  also  ol)tain  the  salva  H>n  which  is  in  Christ  Jesu3 
with  eternal  glory"  became  less  a  matter  of  ambition  with 
the  occupants  of  the  jndpit  in  New  England  generally,  and 
succeeding  Presbyterian  preachers  only  showed  that  in  this 
ihrccition  they  W(.'re  "men  ol'  like  ]»assions  with  others." 
Taking  into  the  account  that  "  forbidden  fruit  is  sweet,"  it 
is  easy  to  see  that,  with  not  a  few,  the  law  of  Christ's 
house  might  be  viewed  as  a  burden,  and  young  men  (such 
as  the  two  sons  of  the  Kev.  Simon  W'illianis;  might  enter 
the  ministry  of  an  opposite  polity. 

When  we  again  remember  the  system  of  domestic  tr.in- 
ing,  in  doctrine  and  family  worshij),  which  enter  into  tiie 
vitality  of  Presbyterianism,  and  lind  these  gradually  ne- 
glected by  those  surrounding  them,  we  see  that,  in  every 
way,  on  this  ungenial  soil,  extensive  growth  could  not  be 
expected,  llencc,  the  dving  out  of  Presbvteries  and  the 
course  of  fragments  of  churches  succumbing  to  Congre- 
gationalism, with  which  we  enter  on  this  quarter  of  a 
century. 

On  February  15,  1791,  the  TJev.  ^^'illiam  Davidson,  of 

Devry,  died,  and  the  congregation  remained  destitute  of  a 

settled  ministry  till  1795,  when  Mr.  Jonathan  Brown  (a 

native  of  Pittsfieldj  N.  H.)  was  ordained  and  installed.    A 

19 


290 


IIISTOUY  OF   I'ltKSnYTEllIANLSM 


nnnibor  of  cluirchos  wore  thon  vacant,  and  ■vvliilo,  as  a 
liccntialo,  lu!  was  i)()|)u!ar  in  otlicr  places,  still  "  a  stronf^ 
and  (lelcrinincil  ()|)pi)sitiuii  to  his  st'ttlcnicnt  wa,s  nuidc  by 
a  lart!;e  minority. ' 

The  court  did  not  act  "witli  wisdom  in  ordaining  him. 
His  situation  hccamc  tryinjj;  and  nnplcasant,  a\id  thi;  agi- 
tation cn!j;cn(U'rcd  wcaUt'iu'd  the  chui'cli  hy  l'ormin,^•  a  pre- 
text to  thos(!  thus  inclined  to  introduce  C'on<j;regationalism, 
both  ecclesiastically  and  civilly. 

While  this  oH'shoot  maintained  worship  for  twcKc  years 
in  a  hall,  it  "jiroduced  n(/  only  hitterness  and  contro- 
versies, which  for  a  time  ji;reatly  marred  the  peace  and 
hajipiriess  of  the  conmiuinty,"  I»ut  ]»repared  the  way,  in 
the  course  of  half  a  centuiy,  tor  the  ahandonment  of  I'res- 
byterianisni  by  this  mother  church  and  the  alienation  of 
lier  projjerty.  "At  his  own  recjuest,  he  was  dismissed  in 
18U4,  and  died  in  bs;]S,  at  the  a;;e  of  eighty.  He  was  a 
man  of  sincere  piety,  but  l(>adin,<>;  a  single  life  (when  he 
ought  to  have  had  a  wife  to  'fjjuide'  his  'house'),  he  sub- 
jected himself  to  many  uncandid  and  unkind  I'emarks, 
and  was  recjuire*]  l)y  the  Presbytery  not  to  preach,  nor  to 
l)erform  any  otlicial  acts  alter  his  dismission.  Jle  had  se- 
vere trials,  and  toward  the  end  of  life  endured  many  spir- 
itual conflicts."  {P.)  The  Presbytery  were  now  gradually 
abandoning  their  Presbyterial  relations. 

Palmer  continued  tt)  enjoy  the  jjastoral  laljors  of  tlie 
Rev.  Closes  Baldwin,  while  the  Rev.  I\Ir.  Taggart  was  still 
fulfilling  his  ministry  at  Colcraine. 

At  NeAvbury])t)rt,  on  Novend)er  11"',  1794,  ^Mr.  Daniel 
Dana  was  ordained  and  installed  as  the  successor  of  the 
Rev.  John  Murray.  He  was  born  in  I]iswich,  INbiss.,  ou 
July  24,  1771,  ;.nd  graduated  from  Dartmouth  in  17.S.S. 
"  His  settlement  was  i)receded  and  succetded  by  disruji- 
tion.  The  i)ulpit  had  been  sup})lied  during  the  winter  of 
1792,  at  Mr.  Murray's  invitation,  by  the  Rev.  iMr.  IMilton, 
a  young  missionary  from  Lady  Huntingdon's  school  at 
Trevecca;  an  earnest,  elo(iuent  and  original  ])r(>achcr,  al- 
though eccentric  as  a  man.  ]Many  were  delighted  with 
him,  and  would  have  retained  him  as  colleague  paster. 
But  the  majority  being  unwilling,  his  friends  M-ithdre\v, 
and,  under  the  })lca  of  '  better  cdilication,'  established  wor- 
ship in  a  private  house."    After  Mr.  Murray's  death,  and 


Mr? 


i 


IN   NEW   KNCiLAND. 


29t 


a 

by 


nj? 


\in. 

]tVO- 


while  nmlor  piir.]»onsi()n  for  !i  bivacli  of  covcnnnt,  tlioy  ro- 
nouiK'CMl  tlio  ^'ovcrnincnt.  built  a  bouse  of  worsbij),  jiiul 
orLranized  an  "  iii(l('|)('ii(l(iit  Calvinistio"  rlmrch.  Six 
males  and  nine  females  si'iiied  the  covenant;  ii  session  was 
a{)|tointed,  and  Mr.  Milton  Ix'cami'  pastor. 

The  forms  of  installation  were  (piite  anomalous;  for 
after  sermon,  Deacon  Solomon  Haskell  i)Ut  tin;  call  to  vote, 
and  declared  him  their  minister.  Having'  delivered  {]\^^ 
Jlihle  to  him  and  told  him  what  system  oi"  doctrines  ho 
was  to  i)resi  nt,  he  informed  him  that  "so  lonp;  as  he  did 
this  and  bi'have(l  well,  they  should  aelcnowl(Ml;re  him  as 
their  teacher,  and  no  longer."  He  then  ])r()ceede(l  to  <i:ivo 
to  him  a  "t^har^'e"  how  to  i)reach.  Thus  oriy;inated  the 
Prospe(!t  street  ehurch. 

Here  was  spontaneous  Coujirejiationalism  (T''.,p.  oG)  pro- 
(lucinjz;  a  no'  .lal  I'resbyterianism — a  church  with  a  ses- 
sion. The  deacon  played  the  apostle  in  the  name  of  four- 
teen members  and  himself  to  his  "  son  "  in  the  ministry 
(1  Tim.  i.  bS).  The  transaction  looked  a  little  like  "a 
spectacle  unto  the  world,"  if  not  "to  an,i,'els;"  yet  it  pivo 
to  Mr.  Milton  "the  jiower"  contained  in  nine  women  and* 
six  men,  "  under  suspension  for  breach  of  covenant,"  to 
"make  full  ])roof  of  his  ministry." 

Altliouixb  tliis  was  "a  more  thin  and  tenuous  film"  of 
"the  i)ower  of  a  church  court "  than  Murray's,  in  ])erme- 
atimr  the  two  Conn;re<rationalist  ministers  and  three  congre- 
gations and  constituting  a  Presbytery,  it  was,  according  to 
the  '■  l^oston  Congregational  Almanac,  bS47,  p.  43,"  not 
only  adequate,  but  ])lenary ;  lor  "all  church  power  resides 
in  the  church,  and  not  in  church  oflicers,  and  resides  in 
each  particular  church  directly  and  originally,  by  virtues 
of  tlu!  exj)ress  or  implied  compact  of  its  menil)ers."  Their 
"suspension  for  breach  of  covenant"  was  only  the  act  of 
"church  ollicers,"  whom  they  bad  solemnly  vowed  to  obey, 
aiul"(io  to,  let  us,"  Avas  more  congenial  to  their  wishes 
than  "  Ohcy  them  that  have  the  rule  over  you,  and  submit 
yourselves ;  for  they  watch  for  your  souls."  Species  can- 
not be  transmuted. 

Murray's  ecclesiastical  claims  were  ignored  by  all  true 
Presbyterians,  while  this  "  church  of  Jesus  Christ "  flour- 
ished in  its  own  way  for  six  years,  wdien  it  made  "  some 
concessions  as  to  the  manner  of  withdrawal,  and  the  ses- 
sion removed  their  censure."     (lb.) 


■'::  i 


Flaw. 


292 


HISTORY    OF    rUKSBYTKHIANISM 


Tho  finnnal  :ivornp;o  admissions  to  this  clinrch  had  hcon 
— under  Parsons,  ten,  and  under  Mnrray,  seven. 

A  Mr.  Sainu(>l  Tond),  a,  lici'Utiate,  an  old-fasluoned 
preaclier,  was  ealli'd  tlirie(>  l)y  a  niajority  of  this  ennn;re!j;ii- 
tion,  hut  un(h'r  strong  t'eehnj;  tho  reciuests  all  Tailed,  and, 
"while  Mr.  Dana  was  ealled  in  Jun(\  he  was  not  installed 
till  Novend)er,  and  then  in  tlic  lace  of  "a  decided  ()])j)()si- 
tion  and  after  a  remonsl ranee  to  I'reshytery."  His  father, 
by  vote  of  I'reshyterv,  jireaelietl  the  <»rdinati»»n  sennon. 

'""J'he  dissentients  then  in  their  turn  withdrew,  ineludiuij: 
most  of  the  session  and  many  of  the  nuist  suhstantial  and 
go  V  niend)ers  of  tho  rhureh.  This  opposition  to  Mr. 
Dana  was  ])rin('ipally  owintj;  to  a  nnsunde'rstandin^  of  his 
doctrinal  views."  (//>.,  ]>.  .'U.)  They  were  strenuous  ahout 
*' sound  doctrine,"  hut  could  not  ])erceive  it  (while  it 
was  there},  conceaUsd  extensively  hy  the  graces  of  hi.s 
style. 

"  In  July,  17".)o,  they  pro])osed,  as  a  p(>ac(^  measure,  that 
the  Row  Mr.  lioddily  should  h(>conie  colleague  with  Mr. 
Dana.  This  failed,  und  in  Oetohor  next  the  Preshytery 
organized  them  as  tho  second  Preshyterian  church,  with 
thirty-three  mcmhcrs."  (/"/>.,  j).  31.)  The  lirst  Preshytin-ian 
church,  though  weakened,  nMuained  with  him  (Mr.  Dana) 
an  all'ectionate  and  united  peo[)le. 

This  church  (wo  have  seen)  was  one  whi(!h  came  to 
Preshyterianism  while  its  nuMnhers  were  of  that  stock,  tu 
escape  the  opj»ressi(»n  of  Cor'M'egationalism. 

As  tlu!  law  (enacted  always  hy  a  C'ongregationalist  l(>gi.s- 
lature)  "  then  was,  they  were  forced,  in  ovdia-  to  ohtain 
liherty  and  rights  from  Church  and  Stad  ,  to  hecome  an- 
other denomination  ;  and  to  guard  thenv."lves  and  their 
children  so  far  as  ]K)ssil)le  against  the  evils  they  had  seen 
and  sutlered,  against  false  dot'trine  and  o))pression,  they 
])ecame  Preshyterians."  Like  Edwards,  tliey  were  "out 
of  conceit  with  what  was  unsettled,  independent,  and  con- 
fused." 

"  Their  first  act  was  to  choose  six  ruling  elders."  Tlu; 
Ilev.  John  Murray  was  unwilling  (wdten  called)  to  settle  in 
this  congregation,  heeause  "the  visitation  of  lamilies,  as 
I'reshyterian  ])astors  do,  was  not  customary  with  the  Pev. 
]\[r.  Parsons,  except  on  extraordinary  occasions;"  and  "in 
1780,  the  session  districted  the  parish." 


IN    NKW   ENGLAND. 


293 


lolitaiu 
\\\v  ivn- 
tlieiv* 

''  out 
lul  oou- 

rtilc'  in 
lUos,  ;is 
[u>  Uev. 


"  Tlio  session  lins  oftcMi  Ixvn  tlio  safety  of  tlio  church, 
])r(>s('rviii,<i  its  unity  an<l  niaintaininii;  its  disciphne  and 
])urity,  when  otherwise  false  doctrine  nii^lit  have  intruded 
and  onh-r  liavc  hccn  lost.''  (Ih.) 

Having!;  seen  the  dm  Prcshyterian  churelu^s  in  NcAvhury- 
]>()rt,  after  Octolx'r,  17!)"),  pressing;  forward  ahrcast,  1  now 
turn  to  the  nieairre  records  of  Presl)ytery. 

On  Octoher  2-')th,  17*.)''^,  a  convention  met  at  Londonderry 
"  for  finishinti:  tlie  union  hetween  the  Associate  Reformed 
rresl)y<ery  of  I^oiidondcrry  and  the  l*reshytery  at  the 
]''astward,  and  heini!;  fnlly  invested  with  ])ower,  formed  a 
union,"  and  style(l  themselves  lienceforth  ''the  Preshytery 
of  Londonderry."  On  the  last  ^\'(Mlnesday  in  May,  17'.t4, 
;it  Dei'rv,  there  wove  \)vv^r]\t  Vwv.  >h'ssr<.  Si>lonion  Moor(\ 
"William  Morrison,  Nathanii'l  iMvcr,  .lolm  Houston,  David 
Annan,  Samuel  Tatrnart,  Andrew  Oliver,  and  nine  rulinj; 
elders,  who  unanimously  a|>]irov(Ml  of  the  Tmi(Mi  fornu'd 
hy  the  convention.  Petitions  for  the  services  of  ^h'. 
Toomhs  Avere  )»resented  from  New  ^larket  and  Antrim, 
and  one  from  ''tlu^  I'rcshvtcM'iau  society  in  Bedford,  ask insj^ 
to  liavc  the  inhahitants  of  that  town  net  consistently  Avith 
Christian  character."  They  had  cmiiloycd  a  Mr.  Pickles — 
who  had  heeu  de[)osed  hy  the  Preshytery  of  Philadelphia, 
and  who  was  immoral  in  character — and  tlu^  ])etitioners 
nsk,  "Have  any  of  the  inlinhitants  any  s}iccial  right  to 
spt'cial  ))rivih',a'es  from  thi''  Pri  shytery  or  from  any  of  its 
nienibers?"  The  action  of  those  who  employed  him  was 
condcnmed. 

In  reference  to  irregulariti(>s  already  referred  to  in  Xew- 
bnryport,  in  answer  to  a  petition,  the  action  of  session  was 
coiilirmed. 

On  their  request,  supplies  were  granted  to  Derry,  and 
j\Ir.  Brown  was,  in  answer  to  their  verbal  petitions,  ap- 
liointed  for  fom*  Sahhaths  to  Hampton. 

Chester  jx'titioned  for  suiijjly,  and  ^Tessrs,  Toomhs, 
r>rown,  and  Wallace  were  ajipoinled  to  lal)t)r  in  assigned 
vacancies. 

The  leaven  liad  now  ])erm(>ated  nearly  the  Avhole  mass 
of  )>rolessed  Presbyterians  in  New  I'aigland,  and  we  havo 
seen  about  a  score  of  these  congregations  absorbed  by  tho 
►State  religion.  Among  those  which  had  stood  llrm  for 
iSyine  fifty  years  in  reference  to  the  oU'ering  of  "ii  pure 


i' 


nii 


294 


HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


■!!■'"■-'::     > 


offering "  to  God  in  praise,  was  "West  Dorry.  But  she 
had  now  become  under  that  njysterious  identity  "  a  felt 
want,"  enamored  with  ''the  enticing  words  of  man's 
wisdom." 

"  jNIr.  Joel  Barlow,  who,  on  receiving  a  degree  from  Yalo 
College,  in  177^,  then  first  came  before  the  jjublic  in  his 
poetical  character  by  reciting  an  original  poem,  was  suc- 
cessively a  cha])lain  in  the  Revolutionary  army,  an  editor, 
a  bookseller,  a  lawyer,  and  a  merchant." 

lie  published  in  London  a  poem,  called  "  The  Conspir- 
acy of  Kings,"  and  "in  the  latter  part  of  1792  he  was 
ap])ointed  one  of  the  deputies  from  the  London  Constitu- 
tional Society  to  ])resent  an  address  to  the  National  Con- 
vention of  France,"  with  which  they  were  in  sym])athy. 
This  body  had  "  formally  disavowed  the  existence  of  God 
and  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and  disseminated  atheism." 
(llorne.)  llis  most  popular  i)oem,  published  before  17i*-'), 
was  entuled  ''Hasty  Pudding."  He  had,  however,  in  his 
earlier  days,  before  1787,  "  revised  Dr.  Watts'  Imitation  of 
David's  Psalms  "  (Pres.  Dig.,  p.  208),  that  is,  the  loU  imi- 
tated. 

Whether  this  was  a  labor  of  love  to  improve  liis  poetical 
talent,  or  done  1)y  the  request  of  "the  General  Association 
of  Connecticut,"  his  "  advanced  thought,"  as  one  of  the 
morning  stars  of  the  nineteenth  century,  was  unsavory  to 
the  pious  in  "  the  land  of  steady  habits  " — and  "  to  sanctify 
the  ticket,"  as  among  modern  politicians,  Frelinghuysen 
w\as  put  in  nomination  with  the  duellist,  Henry  Clay — so 
"the  Rev.  Dr.  Timothy  Dwight,  by  order  of  the  said  asso- 
ciation, revised  the  version  as  revised  by  Mr.  Barlow,  and 
versified  a  number  omitted  by  Watts." 

In  "  1787,  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Pennsylvania 
allowed  the  Imitation  of  David's  Psalms,  as  revised  by  Mr. 
Barlow,  to  be  sung  in  congregations  and  families  under 
their  care."  (lb.,  208.) 

Since  the  close  of  the  war,  as  we  have  seen  in  Batli  K'll, 
the  moral  sentiment  of  the  land  had  l)een  gradually  wax- 
ing feel)le,  and  this  abatement  of  force,  like  "judgment,"' 
began  Avith  "  the  house  of  God."  Changes  in  material  jjros* 
])erity  seem  to  have  been  accom));mied  l)y  innovations  in 
doctrine,  worsiiip,  and  discipline  in  the  churches. 

"  The  Imitations  "  were,  among  the  Presbyterian  churches 


IN   NEW   ENGLAND. 


295 


he 

elt 
irs 

ale 
his 

iUC- 

qiu- 

w;is 
litu- 
Con- 
ilhv. 

{.\vA 

u  his 
on  of 
J  iiui- 

potical 
■  ilion 


to  the  pouthwavfl,  in  1S02  (Dip:.,  p.  '200\  vamped  -svith  his 
tliree  books  of  hymns;  and  wliile  in  no  way  was  either 
(lepencU'nco  or  control  estahlished  between  any  of  tlio 
ri'c.shytw'ies  of  New  Knirland  and  what  became,  in  178'J, 
th(!  Cteneral  Asseml)ly  of  the  United  States  of  Ainerica, 
still  they  were  (kdy  infonnc'd  of  the  changes  introduced, 
and  at  tiiis  meetintj;  (in  17';)  1*  "a  petition  from  West  Derry 
(was  presented)  to  use  Dr.  Watts'  psalms,  corrected  and 
enlarged  by  Mr.  Joel  Barlow,  and  reconnnended  by  the 
CJeneral  Association  of  Connecticut  and  by  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterians  in  the  Suutliward."  This 
was  "referred  back  to  the  session,  to  act  for  the  general 
good  of  the  society  in  that  case." 

At  meetinp:s  0]i  October  1st,  1794.  and  subsequently,  the 
varied  matters  mentioned  in  relation  to  +iie  settlement  of 
I\lr.  Daniel  Dana  received  attention,  while  a  call  from  New 
Market  for  Mr.  Toombs  was  read  and  s  ained.  His  instal- 
lation took  ])lace  on  October  21st,  when  .lev.  Messrs.  ]McClin- 
tock  and  Miltinjore  (Congregationalists)  sat  as  correspond- 
ents. ''  The  llev.  Messrs.  Moore,  Annan,  and  Morrison  were 
ai)pointed  a  connnittee  to  wait  on  the  Amherst  association, 
res[)ecting  sometliing  for  the  p'cneral  good  of  the  church." 
Trials  for  licensure  were  assigned  to  Mr.  Wm.  Pidgeon. 

Eight  ministers  and  fourteen  elders  were  present  at  the 
stated  meeting  at  Londonderry,  on  May  27th,  1795.  Nine 
]iap(rs  were  ])resented,  and  the  court  had  abundance  of 
business,  as  the  opposition  to  the  settlement  of  Mr.  Brown 
was  then  considered.  Presbytery  "advised  the  Congrega- 
tional church  of  Hampton  to  give  up  their  negative  power 
over  the  town  in  the  settlement  of  a  ftiinister."  That  is, 
let  the  town  meeting  rule  the  church  and  vote  it  Presby- 
terian. 

At  Londonderry,  on  October  28th,  1795,  a  call  from 
Pcterboro  was  sustained.  Coleraine  did  not  then  appear 
to  be  walking  in  harmony  with  this  court,  and  the  town 
was  to  be  "seasonably  notified,  by  the  clerk,  of  our  next 
meeting,  and  that  they  show  reasons,  if  any  they  have," 
Avhy  their  conduct  should  not  lie  investigated.  Mr.  Pidgeon 
accepted  the  call  from  Ham])ton,  and  this  congregation 
was  received  b}''  Presbytery.  A  Congrcgationalist  church, 
by  the  advice  of  Presbytery,  yielded  to  a  Presbyterian 
parish.    Jordan  was  rolled  backward  once. 


k 


•'f  i 


296 


HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


A  letter  from  tho  A.  R.  Synofl  was  now  received,  and  tlio 
clerk  (Rev.  Win.  Morrison)  was  ai)pointed  to  answer  it, 
"  when  he  thinks  most  eonduc-ive  to  the  i)uhlic  good  of 
this  Preshytery,  and  to  uivo  a  general  aecount  of  that  iiart 
of  our  conduct  respecting  ])salnio(ly  and  our  absence  from 
Synod,  with  the  reasons  therewith." 

January  7th,  11\K\  A  pro  re  wita  meeting  was  held  on 
account  of  Mr.  Pidgeon  and  those  against  him  at  Ilami*- 
ton.  They  tiien  and  there  ordainc'd  him,  and  ''voted — • 
that  we  advise  our  Presl)yterian  brethren  to  deal  honor- 
ably and  justly  with  the  congregational  part  of  the  town, 
resjx'cting  the  ministei'ial  ])roperty." 

On  May  4th,  at  Coleraine,  the  eourt  advised  tliat  congre- 
gation to  "no  longer  (piarrel  about  the  locality  of  their 
place  of  we  'ship,  and  appointed  Mr.  ]Morris(jn  to  draw  up 
un  address  to  them  for  Presbytery."' 

The  vital  force  of  this  form  of  ecclesiastical  rc(jimeii  had 
now  become  so  attenuated  that  occasionally  Congregational 
societies  desired  to  wear  the  name,  es])ecially  wfiere  dilli- 
culties  had  arisen,  and  on  June  14tli,  ITUt^,  a  pro  re  nata 
meeting  was  held  in  Byelield. 

A  "  petition  from  jtarties  there  to  be  received  as  a  Pres- 
byterian society  Avas  presented."  On  investigation,  it  was 
found  that  the  movement  liad  originated  in  "strife  and 
vainglory,"  Satan  acting  as  the  chairman  of  their  church 
extension  connnittee.  Hence,  it  Avas  "  Voted — That  we 
address  the  Middle  Essex  association  to  advise  the  church 
here  to  keep  the  ])ea('e." 

"  It  must  needs  be  tiiat  offences  come,"  and  so  unyield- 
ing Avere  the  disputants  in  Coleraine  about  the  location  of 
their  church,  tluit  their  pastor,  at  a  meeting  held  in  T.on- 
donderry,  on  October  12th,  reijuested  his  release  from  the 
charge  and  a  dismission  from  tiie  Presbytery.  As  his  use- 
fulness among  them  Avas  not  obviously  at  an  end,  and 
their  spiritual  prosperity  required  an  oversight,  Avhich,  in 
the  event  of  his  removal,  might  not  easily  be  obtained,  so, 
to  prevent  them  from  being,  :is  a  church,  "consumed  one 
of  another,"  his  petition  was  returned  to  him. 

Windham  noAV  petitioned  for  a  supply  of  ])reaching. 

1797,  at  Londondi^'i'v,  on  May  17th,  a  reipiest  Avas  ])re- 
sented  by  the  second  church  in  JS'eAvbur\'port,  to  have  .M''. 
Boddily  settled  as  their  pastor.    On  September  6tli,  1797, 


IN   NEW  ENGLAND. 


297 


^Ir.  Boddily  was  reported  installed,  and  the  act  of  the 
conmiittt'c  (U-clared  to  l)e  valid. 

Anion,!,^  the  ])etitions  ))roscnt(Ml  at  this  meetinfj,  nnmlxT 
six  "was  a  reriuest  from  Kast  Derrv  for  liliertv  to  use  Dr. 
Watts'  Imitations  of  the  Psahns."  '  The  oifsh'oot  of  ITM'y 


Lon 


KloiKicrrv)  was  iinis  m  advance  o 


f  th 


le  motiier  ennrc'i 


•h 


of  171'.)  three  years,  in  eonfctrmini;;  to  the  '"taste"'  estah- 
lislied  hy  "the  customs  of  the  churches"  in  New  En<:land-. 
Tlie  consideration  of  this  petition  was  i)ostponed  until 
next  nlcetinL^ 

These  varied  irregularities  on  tlie  part  of  the  A.  1!.  Pres- 
hyt(.'ry  of  Londonderry  had  (as  has  l>een  noticed)  ^^rieved 


tl 


le  hvnod 


irietl  a])])liances  (nni)iie(l  m     review  an( 


I 


contruul")  had  Ijcen  used  hy  tlie  Sujierior  Court,  hut 
in  vain.  The  results  were  ])ainfully  ohvious;  Init  the 
character  and  full  course  of  the  causes  were  hut  im])er- 
fectly  com}>rehendcd.  As  it  is  mnw  Congregationalism 
was  then  sup])osed  to  1)e  only  a  little  (Htl'erent  from  Pres- 
hyterianism — "only  a  little  diHerence  aljout  .uovernment, 
you  know,  yet  suhstantially  the  same  " — while  they  are  in 
their  nature,  origin,  iniiuence,  and  tendencies,  irreconcil- 
ah]y  antagonistical — the  one  will  root  (nit  the  t)ther. 

The  clerk  was  a])])ointed  in  1795  to  answer  a  letter,  and 
now,  in  17U7,  the  "  Pev.  Messrs.  Annan,  Toomhs  and  Mor- 
rison were  a])pointed  to  answer  the  address  IVom  Synod." 

History  is  here,  and  at  tliis  date,  rejieatinir  itself.  The 
troul)les  which  disturhed  the  jjcace  of  the  Rev.  Solomon 
Prentice  forty-five  years  ago,  are  now  reproduced  in  the 
region  of  Newmarket.  Ever  since  the  days  of  the  ajiostles 
])ersons  have  heeii  (at  least  at  times)  found,  wlio  "creep 
into  houses  and  lead  ca])tive  those  silly  ones,"  Avho  in- 
dulge the  emotional  ])owers  or  feelings  of  their  minds,  in- 
stead of  "getting  wisdom  and  with  all  their  getting  ohtain- 
ing  understanding."  As  the  ]>urity  of  Puritanism  was 
diminished,  so  in  New  England  we  find  this  class  of  ad- 
veiUurers  increaseil.  The  l\ev.  Jonathan  l^rown,  wlien 
silenced  hy  Preshytery  and  nMluced  to  ])rivate  memher- 
sliip,  which  he  held  till  the  day  of  his  death,  was  forl)idden 
to  preach,  and  he  oheyed.  Not  so  with  "  unruly  and  vain 
talkers"  under  the  aus))ices  of  the  other  ])olity.  In  the 
one  case,  the  "mouths"  of  such  ])ersons  ''must  he 
stopped,"  in  the  other,  the  ahettors  of  divers  and  strange 


«  •'  • 


1  t 


298 


HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


doctrines  and  corresponding  practices  may  steal  the  hearts 
of  coinniunities. 

Hence,  we  have  on  record,  "The  Rev.  Mr.  Ewers  is  com- 
J3lained  of  l)y  Mr.  Toomhs,  as  cncoura^inL!;  stni^j^ding  per- 
sons, calling  theinsi'lvcs  preachers,  to  tiie  great  injury  and 
dishonor  of  rehgion,  ia  many  places,  particularly  iu  ]S'cw 
Market." 

•  "Voted,  unanimously.  That  this  Preshytery  solemnly 
recommend  to  vacant  churches  under  their  care,  that  tli  / 
encourage  or  employ  no  strangei's  as  ])reachers  amoag 
them  without  they  see  his  liceneic,  or  apjjrohation  from 
regular  ministers,  and  that  he  have  a  good  ciiaracter." 

Few  oj)erati()ns  of  tiie  soul  are  more  powerful  than  this. 
"I  would  to  God,  that  all  were,  not  only  almost,  but  alto- 
gether, such  as  I  am,"  and  where  this  has  in  ])rospect  good 
large  "  loaves  "  and  a  nund^er  of  "  fishes,"  or  even  "  a  j)iece 
of  money,  or  a  morsel  of  ])read,"  proselyting  errorists 
would  Ije  seldom  out  of  sight,  excepting  for  the  discipline 
of  C'hrist's  house.  "  Peace  and  good-will  among  men,"  as 
well  as  "pure  and  undeliled  religion  before  God,  alike  re- 
quire, all  who  are  lawfully  i)ut  in  trust  in  the  ministry," 
to  rebuke  all  such  "  liars,  evil  beasts,  slowdiellies,  sharply, 
that  they  may  be  sound  in  the  faith  "  (Tit.  i.  12).  lly 
neglect  of  this,  the  Province  of  Maine,  where  the  last  Pres- 
bytery met  in  17*J1,  has  become,  religiously,  not  unlike  a 
"waste  howling  wilderness."  And  so  numerous  are  the 
sects  in  the  small  })opulation  of  Rhode  Island  to-day,  that 
there  is  extensively  truth  as  Avell  as  humor  in  the  saying, 
"If  a  man  lose  his  kind  of  religion,  let  him  go  to  Rhode 
Island  and  he  will  find  it "  among  the  crowd  there,  said 
to  be  some  forty  sects  in  number. 

In  enacting  this  statute,  and  taking  care  that  it  should 
be  executed,  where  required,  the  court  "  took  heed  to  all 
the  flock,  over  the  which  the  Holy  Ghost  had  made  them 
bishops  to  feed  the  church  of  God,"  and  well  would  it  be, 
now  and  hereafter,  for  all  others  in  a  sindlar  jjosition,  to 
"go  and  do  likewise." 

It  is  one  of  the  ]ieculiarities  of  Presbyterian  church  gov- 
ernment, that,  while  each  has  its  legitimate  field,  s])liere 
and  work,  the  courts  have  interest  and  responsibiUty  i)ro- 
portionate  to  their  authority.  Hence,  in  these  changes  of 
constitutional  law  and  violation  of  official  vows,  by  the 


IN    NEW  ENGLAND. 


299 


■■■'.; 


Associate  Eoformcd  Prcsbytory  of  T.ondondcrry,  the  Synod, 
and  through  it  the  denomination,  had  a  j)ainl"ul  interc.'^t. 
Tliis  they  nianit'et^tecL  Hence,  on  tlie  erection  of  tlio 
Washin;4ton,  X.  Y.,  Prewbytery,  on  May  oOth,  1794,  Synod 
met  "no  representation  from  tlie  New  England  l'resl)y- 
tery,"  and  the  "Rev.  K.  Annan  was  a))pointed  lo  write  to 
them,  reqLiirin,si;  an  acconnt  of  the  state  of  religion  anionj^ 
them  and  a  de))Utation  of  a  member,  or  members,  to  reprcj- 
sent  them  in  Synoch"  In  1795,  on  May  21st,  Mr.  Annan 
reported  tliat  lie  had  "\vritten  to  the  New  England  Pres- 
Lvtery  but  had  received  no  answer." 

"  Tlie  state  of  that  Presbvtcry  being  imdcr  considera- 
tion,  it  was  stated  that  certain  information  had  been  re- 
ceived by  the  members  of  Synod,  that  Watts'  ])salms  are 
generally  used  by  the  members  of  that  Presbytery  in  their 
churches,  that  th<?y  hold  jtromiscuous  communion  with 
exceptionable  denominations;  that  they  have  yielded  to 
the  town  meetings  several  ])oints  of  Presbyterial  govern- 
ment, that  for  tiiese  reasons  our  peoi)le  are  uneasy  and  re- 
proached. A]i])ointed  Kev.  Messrs.  Annan,  Mason  and 
Clarke  a  committee,  to  visit  these  brethren  in  their  con- 
gregations and  deal  Avith  them  alTectionately,  to  remove 
all  grounds  of  uneasiness,  and  endeavor  to  })revail  on  them 
to  conduct  their  government  and  disci})line,  according  to 
the  "word  of  (!od  and  the  rules  of  this  churcli." 

They  were  also  to  be  informed  b\'  letter  of  the  a])point- 
mcnt  of  the  visiting  connnittee.  The  letter,  written  on 
June  1st,  179o,  reads  thus: 

"Rev.  and  nKAU  nitKTiiP.EN: — It  gives  lis  no  small  un- 
easiness to  hear  of  some  things,  Avliieh  have  been  intro- 
duced among  you,  inconsistent  with  the  comely  order  to 
be  ol)served  in  the  house  of  God.  Some  of  these  are  the 
introduction  of  \\'atts'  hnitdtious  of  the  Psalms  into  the 
worship  of  God ;  holding  unnecessary  and  improjier  com- 
munion with  other  denominations,  and  in  the  regulation 
of  your  congregational  affairs,  acting  repugnantly  to  the 
spirit  of  Presbyterianism. 

'"Hearing  these  rejtorts  in  1794,  we,  by  letter,  '  earnestly 
reciuested  your  attendance  at  this  meeting.'  We  are  sorry 
that  you  have  not  responded.  Our  members  from  the 
Southern  States  come  greater  distances  and  at  greater  cost. 
Your  inconvenience  cannot  excuse  your  constant  neglect 


I  , 


III 


300 


HISTORY   OF   TRESRYTERIANISM 


rs 


I  <  :^ 


I'. 


of  our  Synodical  moctin^r!^.  You  could  not  1)ut  know, 
tliiit  the  usu  of  Watts'  imltatiavH  in  the  worship  of  (iod, 
liiis  always  met  with  our  disapijroljation.  Your  con- 
nisteney,  while  you  prolessed  a  connection  with  us,  should 
Iiiive  prevented  this  innovation,  cspreially  in  view  (jf  our 
Jadic'ud  Tc.^timoiijj  as  a  Synod.  Feelintz;  for  you,  as  mem- 
bers of  the  same  body,  iind  anxious,  in  the  Spirit  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  to  reclaim  to  the  ])ath  of  duty  those 
whom  we  de(;m  to  have  ^one  astray  ;  the  Synod  have  ap- 
pointed and  authorized  a  connnittt'S  to  visit  you  before 
their  next  meetin<!;,  who  are  to  in([uire  into  the  i)remises 
and  other  matters  of  grievance,  if  any  such  exist,  and  deal 
with  you  as  the  circumstances  of  the  case  may  demand. 
We  hope  you  are  not  insensible  of  the  obligation  of  your 
ordination  vows,  when  you  solenmly  engaged  to  be  subor- 
dinate to  the  Synod.  Our  principles  are  now  ])recisely 
the  same  they  Avere  at  that  time.  Sulfer  us  then,  in  the 
spirit  and  words  of  the  apostle,  to  beseech  you,  by  the 
name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  ye  all  speak  the  same 
thing,  that  there  be  no  divisions  among  us,  but  that  we  be 
perfectly  joined,  together  in  the  same  mind  and  in  the 
same  judgment.  "  John  Duni^ap,  jNIoderator. 

"Alex.  Dobbin,  Clerk." 

New  York,  May  30th,  1796.  jMcssrs.  Annan  and  Mason, 
the  committee  appointed  to  visit  our  brethren  in  New 
England,  reported,  "  That  several  unexpected  dispensa- 
tions of  Divine  Providence  had  rendered  the  fulfilment  of 
it  impossible,  lleasons  sustained."  "June  7th,  appointed 
the  Rev.  Messrs.  Annan  and  ]\hison,  Avith  Ruling  Elders 
Ebenezcr  Clarke  and  James  Stephenson,  in  view  of  the 
situation  of  that  Presbytery,  to  visit  our  brethren  in  New 
England." 

The  "situation"  of  that  Presbytery  was,  in  answer 
stated  (by  the  Rev.  ^^'illiam  Morrison),  thus,  on  August 
l-^Gth,  1790:  "Distance  renders  jxn'sonal  interviews  whh 
our  Southern  brethren  very  inconvenient;  Ave  have  ten 
settled  ministers;  we  consider  ourselves  conijietent  as  a 
judiciary  ;  avc  are  best  accpiainted  Avith  the  customs,  tem- 
per and  manners  of  our  churches  and  their  situation  Avith 
respect  to  other  denominations ;  avc  have  voted  to  rei)ly  to 
the  act  of  Synod  respecting  Psalmody  as  injurious  to  the 
cause  of  Presbytery  in  New  England. 


IN  NEW   ENGLAND. 


301 


"Your  cotnmittco  stating  your  terms  would  gratify  a 
few  and  mortally  wound  otlicrs.  Common  observation 
and  ex[)('rit'nee  concur  with  revelation  in  teacliing  us  tlio 
necessity  of  govi'rning  a  ])eople  in  a  manner  best  adaittc.-d 
to  tlieir  circumstances,  for  tiieir  good  and  for  the  honor  of 
religion.  America  sl»ould  have  tiie  most  generous  and 
benevolent  system  of  religion." 

Hero  the  ai)))eal  is  not  '"to  the  law  and  to  the  testi- 
nion,"  to  the  authority  of  God,  but  to  what  was  adapted  to 
America,  to  the  customs,  temjx'r  and  manners  of  their 
churches  and  of  those  around  lliem  in  New  lOntiland. 

The  Syno<l  met  in  Philadelphia  on  May  21)th,  1707. 
On  the  31st  tluit  committee  reporteil.  The  dillicultics  of 
going  to  New  England  a])i)eare(l  not  a  little  similar  to  the 
return  of*  the  Eagle's  \\  ing"  from  mid-ocean.  The  com- 
mittee say  "  That  owing  to  an  evident  interj)osition  of 
Providence,  the  appointment  was  unfullilled,"  and  in  this 
the  Synod  acciuiesced.  It  would  only  have  been  labor  in 
vain  ;  for  ])ure  worship  and  ollicial  voavs,  if  not  sound 
doctrine  had  (by  that  date)  been  virtually  swept  away  by 
the  flood  of  pine-board  (pew)  patronage.  Annan,  sus- 
tained l)y  the  majestic  i)resence,  fervent  i)iety  and  match- 
less elo(iuence  of"  Mason,  would  have  found  the  changes 
introduced  by  the  i)ermeating  influences  of  the  "  social 
compact"  in  eleven  years,  to  have  made  these  congrega- 
tions, to  the  voice  of  truth,  the  jiresence  of  princii)le  and 
allegiance  to  vows,  ''as  deaf  as  the  adder." 

They  had,  ''August  26th,  17'JG,  ten  S(>ttled  ministers- 
Rev.  Messrs.  Moore,  Ewers,  David  Annan,  Taggart,  Oliver, 
Dccua,  Toombs,  Brewer,  I*idgeon  and  Morrison."  They 
had  increased  from  three  or  four  to  ten.     {Morrison.) 

"A  new  king,  who  knew  not  .Joseph,"  was  now,  through 
the  rapidly  diffusive  stimulant  of  tlie  imUations  in  tlie 
churches  in  New  England,  enthroned  in  the  afl'ections  of 
the  descendants  of  these  "  ])ersecuted  Irisli  brethren," 
who  had  lifted  U})  their  sweet  ])salms  to  Jehovah  on  the 
banks  of  "Wcstrunning  Brook,"  or  had  made  the  sands 
on  the  beach  of  Casco  liay,  their  "  jdace  of  habitation  for 
the  mighty  God  of  .Jacol),"  not  only  by  '' ellectual  fervent 
prayer,"  but  by  presenting  to  him  the  emotions  of  their 
souls,  as  they  were  about  to  enter  the  "wilderness"  in  that 
most  plamtive  of  all  songs,  the  137th  Psalm. 


302 


IIISTOUY   OF   niKSnYTKUIANISM 


All  tills  the  PoqiK"!  Avill  verify.  "A  Utter,  statinij  tlieir 
views  iind  grounds  of  coiiiplaiiit,"  in  the  massive  tiioULiiits 
of  ^Nlason,  was  written  as  an  evidence  of  the  faillilul- 
ncss  of  the  court  to  tlieir  trust,  [)ortions  t)f  wiiieh  1  pie- 
sent. 

After  referring  to  "reports  of  ahuses,"  already  noticed, 
the  eH'orts  of  ai)])ointed  eomniittees  to  visit  tlieni  Inr 
conference,  their  own  motives,  the  unforeseen  "dillieultics 
interposed,"  and  their  personal  disappointment,  tluy 
say : 

"  We  have  done  what  alone  remained  in  our  power,  and 
rcpres(Mit  concisely  in  writing,  with  all  hrotherly  ail'ection, 
yet  with  the  most  undisguised  plainness,  a  few  of  tliose 
suhjects  of  complaint,  on  which  we  should  have  remon- 
strated more  largely  face;  to  face. 

"  You  cannot  he  ignorant,  hrethren,  that  your  discarding 
from  ])ul)li(',  worshij)  the  Psalms  indited  hy  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  substituting  in  their  room  the  e(jmi)osures  of 
men,  is  highly  displeasing  to  the  Synod  and  to  the  body 
of  Christians  untler  their  inspection.  Whether  the  use  of 
such  composures  in  the  pul)lic  worship  of  (iod  he  in  itself 
lawful  or  unlawful,  is  a  ([uestion  we  do  nt)t  mean  tt)  discuss, 
because  it  is  a  (luestion  with  which,  at  present,  we  have 
nothing  to  do.  ]^ut,  whether  considering  your  relation  to 
the  Synod,  th(>  edification  of  the  church  of  whicdi  you  are 
a  branch,  and  your  ol)ligations  to  su|)i)ort  the  truth  of  the 
gospel,  the  use  of  them  was  allo\val)le  in  you,  is  a  question 
which  demands  your  solenni  regard.  You  certaiidy  know, 
brethren,  that  the  controversy  about  psalmody  was  warndy 
agitated  both  at  and  before  the  formation  of  your  connec- 
tion with  the  Synod. 

"  You  know,  too,  that  they  were  decidedly  and  zealously 
opposed  to  these  innovations  in  the  praises  of  the  ciiurcli, 
■\vhich  have  since  become  fashionable;  and  you  know,  also, 
that,  under  the  im})ression — unaccom])anied  with  a  single 
dou])t — that  you  were  perfectly  joined  in  one  mind  with 
them,  were  the  vows  of  (Jod  laid  upon  you. 

''  How,  then,  does  your  departmv  in  so  material  a  point 
from  the  testimony  of  the  body  to  which  you  belong — from 
the  princii)les  which,  in  one  of  the  most  serious  moments 
of  your  lives,  you  unei^uivocally  es])oused,  and  adherence 
to   which    is  notoriously   implicated   in  the   fellowship 


IN   NEW   ENGLAND. 


303 


you  as  yet  own — how  docs  it  comport  witli  your  duty? 
llow  with  siiii{»lic'ity  uiid  <,'(jdly  sincerity?  And  since, 
as  there  is  reason   to  l)elieve,  vuur  lirinness  niiizht  liave 


rding 

llolv 

■es  of 

body 

ise  ot" 

itself 

scuss, 
have 
u  to 
\i  are 
f  the 
tion 
a\ow, 
ivndy 
unec- 

lously 
lurch, 
,!dso, 
sin;ile 

d  with 

Y)ouit 

-from 

Innents 

lercnco 

)wship 


1 


revented   the  evih   how   does    vour   viehlinu  at   tl 


le   ex- 


j)ense  of  your  j)rofessed  convictions  consist  with  the  ohU- 
<:ation  to  obey  (»od  rather  than  nian,  and  with  your  enpau*- 
nu'uts  not  io  foHow  any  devisive  courses  hv  coniplviny; 
with  the  defections  of  tiio  times?  Finally,  as  this  step,  so 
important  in  its  nature  and  extensive  in  its  conse(|tiences, 
was  taken  without  endeavoring  to  ol»tain  tlu;  consent  of 
►Synod,  witlnnit  askiniji:  tiieir  advice,  without  so  much  as 
acquainting  them  with  those  circumstances  which  arc^ 
thouj^ht  to  plead  in  its  favor:  how  is  it  reconcilable  with 
a  decent  deferenct^  to  tliat  judi<'atory  to  which  you  have 
deliberately  promised  subjection  in  the  Lord? 

"  lUit  apart  from  this,  your  ])roceedinus,  brethren,  liavc 
greatly  marred  general  cdifK.'ation.  W'e  ar(f  all  mend)ers 
one  of  anotluM" ;  and  ther(>  is  no  maxim  in  Christian  ))ru- 
dentials  more  sound  and  useful  than  this — that  in  matter?; 
of  liberty,  the  edification  of  the  whole  must  be  preferred 
to  tlu;  ])redilections  of  a  ))art. 

"You  will  not  pretend  that  you  wereliouud  in  conscience 
to  throw  away  the  Psalms  of  the  book  vi  Ciod.  It  was, 
then,  at  best  a  question  of  expediency,  and  we  cannot  but 
lament  that  in  detennining  it  no  regard  has  l)een  paid  to 
the  desires,  to  the  feelings,  to  the  conscience  of  by  far  the 
most  of  your  In'cthren. 

"Was  this  conduct  tender?  Was  it  Christian?  Its 
effects  have  been  deplorable,  ^hmy  who  love  'the  truth 
as  it  is  in  Jesus'  .M"e  alarmed,  lest  what  has  hitherto  hap- 
])ened  is  but  a  prelade  to  deviations  mor(>  unscrijjtural  and 
fatal.  The  Synod  on  your  account  have  lain  under  odium, 
not  only  from  those  who  lie  in  Avait  for  their  halting,  but 
even  from  a  number  of  their  own  ])e()ple.  Conlidence  in 
their  integrity  and  in  their  faithfulness  is,  of  course,  dimin- 
ished, and  the  good  cause  of  God  and  his  trtith  in  their 
hands  ])r()portionably  suffers.  They  have  already  preju- 
dices enough  to  comljat ;  and  it  was  not  kind  to  strengthen 
tluse  ])rejudices  l)y  furnishing  even  the  candid  with 
ground  of  real  objection. 

"Furthermore,  we  beseech  you,  brethren,  to  reflect,  that 
the  principles,  on  wliich  the  plan  you  have  adopted  is  too 


■■::  p 


304 


HISTORY   OF    I'UlvSnYTERlANISM 


W^ 


11 


commonly  dcfondocl,  renders  your  adoption  of  it  peculiarly 
unhappy. 

"  It  JH  justly  dccined  an  osi'ential  doctrine  of  Christianity, 
tliat  belioverH  in  every  aire  and  undci'  every  dispensation 
liiivc  one  t'aitli ;  tliat  whetlu'r  the  rivelation  ol'  the  way  of 
lilc  be  more  eoniplete  or  partial,  more  elear  or  ohseni'c, 
thoy  ohtain  ])ardon  of  sin.  enjoy  access  to  a  reconcileil 
(iod,  and  rejoice  in  the  hope  ol'  jiiory,  throu^ii  faith  in 
'the  Idood  of  sprinlxliiii.'  linl  hy  many  whosi!  numhers 
cotitinualiy  increase,  that  udorions  tiiith  is  presumptuously 
denied — (h-nied  for  tlie  express  [turpose  of  expiocHni;'  as 
Unlit  for  Christian  worshij*  tiie  I'salms.  wliieh  Jesus  liatii 
l)e([Ueathed  unto  his  clmrch.  As  this  noti<tn  is  hecomiuir 
j)revident,  it  is  tne  duty  of  all  who  would  'earnestly  eon- 
tend  for  th(^  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,'  to  set  their 
faces  like  Hints  a^jainst  its  proj^ress ;  and  it  is  with  inlinile 
re<rret  that  the  Synod  see  so  important  a  part  of  their  body 
fallin^i  into  tin;  ctun'se  which  it  is  ])roi)ap;ated  to  i)romole, 
and  thus  sancLioninj;  an  error  which,  in  their  jud.Ljment, 
stands  in  open  contradiction  to  the  ex})erieuce  of  Christians, 
is  fundanientidly  subversix'e  of  the  doctrine  of  redemittiou, 
and  oives  the  lie  direct  to  the  Spirit  of  tlie  livini;'  Cod. 

"•Jiut  l>esi(l(!  this  iniU)vation  itself,  the  mninu'r,  l)rethreM, 
in  which  it  was  eilected  i.s  auotlier  cause  of  serious  dis- 
satisfaction. 

''If  the  Synod  are  rightly  informed,  the  Psalms  of  the 
Bible  were  laid  aside  and  their  substitute  introduced  by 
the  vote  of  a  town  meet  in;/.  You  arc  no  less  sensible  than 
ourselves  that  this  was  not  only  prostrating;  at  the  feet  of 
the  multitude  the  Seri[)tural  authority  of  judicatories,  but 
Avhat  is  yet  worse,  was  allowinti;  a  civil  corjioration  to 
meddle  with  the  interior  and  spiritual  arrangements  of  tho 
church. 

"  The  evil  and  offence  arc  ajjf^ravated  by  the  little  resist- 
ance which  even  the  ministers  of  the  word  made  to  a 
measure  not  less  dangerous  as  a  precedent  than  corrupt  in 
its  ])rinciple.  It  rests  with  your  consciences,  \)rethren,  to 
vindicate  your  conniving  at  an  open  sacrifice  of  the  chureli 
order,  which  you  have  professed,  and  still  do  ])rofess,  to  re- 
ceive as  the  institution  of  your  Master  in  heaven ;  and  at 
violence  offered  by  a  political  body  to  his  glorious  Il(^a(l- 
ship — of  which,  as  far  as  your  ollicial  agency  is  concx'rnetl, 


IN   NEW   ENGLAND. 


805 


ly 

^>% 

of 
ivo, 

ika 

in 

,isly 

'X  «'^ 

:i;ilu 

uin'4 

c<»u- 

llu'u- 

linilo 

body 

mole, 

nic'Ut, 

ititins, 

])liou, 

(I. 
llavn, 

lof  the 
lod  by 
than 

,eft  of 
>s,  but 
lion  to 
of  tUo 

resist- 
to  a 
Kipt  in 

Ircu,  to 
-UurcU 
,  to  ve- 
land  lit 


you  havo  sworn  to  be  tlio  jiuardians — connived  at  them 
^vith()Ut  one  nianlul  stni^'udc,  and  esjiecially  when  tho 
probubility  is  tliat  your  judicial  interfirenco,  prudently 
and  laitlilully  diicctCd,  \vt)uld  have  prt'scrved  both  tlu; 
]irero^ative  oi'  your  Lord  iVoni  invasion  and  his  ai)point- 
nicnts  IVoni  insult. 

'"Tlic!  whole  of  our  expostulations,  brethren,  are  framed 
accordinij;  to  our  best  infornialioii.  If  in  anythinj^  we 
wrunf>;  you,  it  is  witiiout  desi;in.  J  Jut  sliould  this  be  tlie 
case,  th(,'  fault  is  your  own,  and  our  very  mistake  wouUl 
eorroljorate  exceedingly  tin;  last  reason  of  complaint  on 
which  we  shall  now  insist,  and  this  is,  your  habitual  re- 
missness in  attending  on  meetinirs  of  Synod. 

"You  will  not  (iispute  that,  humanly  speaking,  the 
respectability,  usefulness,  an<l  ellicacy  of  Presbyterial 
government  depend  materially  on  tlie  regular  and  harmo- 
nious eo-o])cration  of  its  judicatories,  and  that  its  Liove- 
ments  are  impelled  and  its  system  disordered  in  projjor- 
tion  as  this '•o-oi)eration  is  frustrated. 

"  B}'  neglecting,  therefore,  the  meetings  of  Synod,  you 
have  not  only  failetl  in  your  own  duty,  but  liave  embar- 
rassed them  in  doing  theirs.  Your  distance  from  the  cen- 
tral ])arts  of  the  country  may  indeed  exemi)t  from  constant 
attendance,  but  it  is  a  very  insullicient  apology  for  ])er- 
petual  absence.  Our  Kedeemer,  it  is  true,  will  have  mercy 
and  not  sacrifice;  but  he  has  not  ])Ut  mercy  and  sacrifi(;e 
at  eternal  war;  and  it  is  but  a  discouraging  symptom,  if  his 
servants,  when  calknl  to  act  in  his  name  upon  the  largest 
scale  which  their  connections  permit,  ordinarily  prefer 
their  own  convenience  to  his  honor.  Y'ou  have  been  for 
some  time  so  numerous,  that  by  visiting  the  Synod  two  by 
two,  if  no  more,  you  nnght  make  it  a  very  easy,  as  it  ought 
to  be  a  very  ])leasant,  fa- k.  Others  of  your  brethren 
attend,  although  at  double  your  distance  and  through 
double  your  dillicult'es.  J'rom  every  Presbytery  on  the 
continent  some  usuady  come  uj)  to  Synod,  Ijut  from  the 
I'resbytery  of  New  England,  hnjuiries  are  anxiously 
made,  and  not  a  single  member  nor  a  single  oflicial  docu- 
ment appears  to  answer  them.  The  Synod  can  learn  the 
state  of  their  affairs  onlv  from  detached  fragments  of  in- 
tt'lligence  or  from  uncertain  rumors. 
"Nor  is  this  a  recent  complaint — it  is  of  years'  standing. 
20 


f  - 

II' 


4  :  i 


.1    '. 


306 


HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


The  Synod  liavo  time  after  time  caused  their  requests  to  bo 
communicated  to  the  Preshytcry  in  writiiiLj,  and  their  re- 
quests liave  been  passetl  over  iu  contumelious  silence. 

"They  have  been  treated  with  this  indi.i;nity,  even  wlien 
their  communications  specified  the  evil  reports  against  the 
Presbytery,  and  earnestly  solicited  thereon  direct,  candid, 
and  ex])licit  information.  Wv  leave  it  to  your  own  sense 
of  decorum,  not  to  say  of  rectitude,  whether  this  is  the 
carriage  which,  from  your  engagements,  they  liavc  a  right 
to  expect. 

"Such,  brethren,  is  a  sketch  of  tlic  representation  wo 
would  have  made  in  conference,  had  tlie  Lord  ])ermitted. 
We  have  not  consciously  misstated  the  sentiments  of  our 
brethren  among  ministers  or  p(}ople ;  and  it  is  not  less  our 
duty  to  you,  than  to  ourselves,  to  them  and  to  our  com- 
mon Lord,  to  tell  you,  witliout  (lattery  or  concealment,  the 
real  light  in  which  your  procecnlings  arc  viewed.  For  our 
own  parts,  wc  will  rt^joice  with  thanksgiving,  should  we 
have  mistaken  facets,  or  erred  in  opinion;  and  our  joy  will 
be  full,  should  tiie  removal  of  all  just  grounds  of  uneasiness 
enable  us  to  '  keep  the  unity  of  the  Spirit,  in  the  l)ond  of 
peace,  striving  together  for  the  faith  of  the  gosjx'l.' 

"  We  entreat,  tlierefore,  that,  on  mature  consideration  of 
this  letter,  a  copy  of  which  is  })reserved  for  synodical  pe- 
rusal, the  I'resbytery,  besides  sending  some  of  their  mem- 
bers, will  transmit,  in  W'riting,  to  the  Synod,  to  be  laid 
before  them  at  their  meeting  in  Philadelphia,  on  the  last 
Monday  in  May  next,  a  correct  account  of  their  worship, 
discipline,  communion  and  other  matters  relative  to  relig- 
ious concerns.  And  we  trust,  that  if  the  union  of  the 
church  i"  dear  to  their  hearts — if  the  vows  of  subordina- 
tion are  esteemed  binding — if  the  authority  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  hath  any  connnanding  inlluence — and  the 
edification  of  his  body  is  an  object  of  (lesir(\  the  intreaty 
will  meet  with  prompt  and  j)oin(ed  compliance. 

''Now,  that  t!i(!  Lord  himself  may  direct  our  way  in  wis- 
dom and  in  righteousn(>ss,  revealing  to  us  the  ])atli  of  duty 
and  giving  us  grace  to  walk  therein ;  without  turning  aside, 
either  to  the  right  hand  or  to  the  left,  is  the  prayer  of  your 
brethren.  "  Kobkut  Annan, 

"  J  NO.  M,  Mason. 

''January  24,  1797." 


IN   NEW  ENGLAND. 


307 


bo 
re- 

\v\\ 
\\\o, 
did, 
?uso 

.•ight 

;\  "VVG 
itted. 
f  our 
;s  our 
coin- 
it,  the 
)r  our 
Id  ^yo 
>y  will 
isiucss 
ond  of 

ion  of 

•al  V^- 
incni- 

hie  last 
•ovship, 
lo  reli^- 
of  the 
lovdina- 
,c  Tiord 
,nd  the 
Liitreat.y 

I'  in  wis- 
1  ot"  duty 
\it  af^uh't 
of  your 

Innan, 

Lason. 


This  prompted  a  reply,  written  hy  tho  moderator,  whioli 
was  received  in  Synod  on  May  oO,  17'.)7,  and  which  stated 
"that  tliey  had  received  the  letter  at  too  hite  a  (hate  to  he 
laid  heibre  Preshytery,  or  to  iiave  any  nuMnher  or  menihers 
attend  Synod;  hut  tiiat  Pi'cshytery  were  to  meet  in  a  short 
time,  when  the  h'tter  would  he  laid  het'orc  tiiem,  which  ho 
was  solicitous  should  he  treated  with  duo  respect,  and  that 
he  intends  to  come  to  tiie  next  meeting  ot"  Syno(h" 

On  Jun.^  11,  17*)S,  at  i'liiladelphia,  the  Synod  were  in- 
formed that  the  Ivcv.  William  Morrison  was  i)rovidentially 
l)revented  from  heinii;  present — and  as  they  iuid  not  sulli- 
cient  evidence  of  the  true  j)Osition  of  affairs,  so  as  to  come 
to  a  fmal  decision,  the  case  was  deferred,  and  the  Rev. 
Robert  Annan  was  aj)pointed  to  write  to  the  Presbytery. 
At  the  next  two  annual  meetings  no  re[)resentative  of  tho 
Presbytery  app<>ared,  and  Mr.  Annan  rciMirtinl  that,  to  his 
lett(>r,  sent  to  the  Presbytery,  he  liad  "  received  no  reply." 
The  letter  of  January  24,  17t)7,  galvanized  the  Presby- 
tery a  little,  and  at  their  meeting  in  Londonderry,  on  Sep- 
tend)er  (>,  171)7,  it  was  "  Voted,  That  Mr.  >b)rrison,  as  agi'ut, 
should  attend  the  Synod  in  Philadeljfhia,  tt)  see  whether 
it  would  be  bcnelicial  to  dissolve  the  connection  that  sub- 
sisted between  them  and  the  Presbytery,  and  that  his  desk 
should  be  supplic(l  for  lour  Sahbatbs  in  his  absence." 

This  a[)pointiiient,  as  we  have  seen,  ho  was  "  j)roviden- 
tially  ])revented  from"  fullilling,  and  the  si)ecific  character 
of  their  Presbyterianism  was  now  very  extensively  changed. 
Only  ^b)rrison  and  Taggart  a]>pear  to  have  had  a  training 
as  Presl>yterians,  after  the  type  of  ^McCJregor,  senior,  antl 
]\h)orehead.  Some  of  the  other  nuunbers,  educated  amidst 
Congregational  surroundings  and  associations,  had  taken 
a  very  mild  form  of  Presbyterianism;  Avhile  others,  who 
had  been  always  C'ongregationalists,  assumed  this  Jiolity 
where  it  would  Ik;  to  them  an  advantage  to  ofliciate  in  a 
Presbyterian  congregation.  The  forms  were  in  the  mean- 
time observed,  but  in  a  free  and  easy  way,  as  they  virtually 
ignored  the  advantage,  authority,  or  even  the  very  exist- 
once  of  a  Synod,  which  might  not  allow  them  to  introduce 
will-worship  into  tho  house  of  (Jod — by  a  vote  on  town 
meeting  day,  when  they  elected  in  the  same  manner  their 

i)ound-keepers,  fence- viewers  and  dog-kill(>rs  Ibr  the  year. 
Reside  this,  although  the  Assembly   of  the  Presbyterian 


'  "  •  i     jj 


h 


,  i 
'1  ; 


308 


HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


Church  in  tho  United  States  (formo'l  in  1789)  Had  never 
had  any  control  in  New  EnffJand,  yet,  in  tho  chanp;es 
which  it  lui  I  borrowed  from  Contrrej^ationalism  in  reter- 
encc  to  Watts'  imitations  and  liynms,  not  a  few  in  this 
Presbytery  had  a  growing  dehght. 

From  1774,  when  Bahlwin  was  smitten  with  the  "  felt 
want,"  which  has  now  for  a  century  been  tlie  "  harp  of  a 
thousand  strings,"  with  all  sectarian  poetical  innovators 
who  want  new  poems,  "  taste  "  and  "  culture  "  have  had 
an  increasing  ascendency  over  Divine  authority,  and  they 
became  a  ])ower  in  the  Associate  Reformed  Presbytery  of 
New  England.  Hence  she  was  now  coquetting  with  the 
larger  body,  and  on  Octoljer  9,  1799  (present,  seven  minis- 
ters and  six  elders)  "  Voted,  To  obtain  and  peruse  the 
Confession  of  Faith  of  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Phila- 
delphia of  May  10,  1788,  and  to  prepare  our  minds  on  the 
propriety  of  adopting  it  as  the  constitution  of  this  Presby- 
tery at  their  next  meeting." 

In  1799  Mr.  Annan  was  again  appointed  to  Avrite  to  this 
Presbytery,  and  in  1800  informed  the  Synod  that  he  had 
done  so,  and  had  received  no  reply.  No  meml)er  ap- 
peared in  Synod  in  1801  from  it,  and  on  May  30th,  at 
Philadelphia,  we  find  on  the  records  of  Synod  this  minute: 
"After  serious  and  mature  deliberation,  the  following  reso- 
iution  was  adopted : 

*'  Whereas,  the  Presbytery  of  Londonderry  has  for  sev- 
eral years  been  in  a  state  of  virtual  separation  from  this 
Synod,  entirely  neglecting  attendance  thereon  and  due 
subordination  thereto;  and.  Whereas,  the  repeated  at- 
tempts of  tliis  Synod  to  o].)tain  from  said  Presbytery  infor- 
mation of  its  condition  and  jirocedure  and  p  compliance 
with  the  order  of  Presbyterial  church  government,  as  main- 
tained by  the  Associate  Reformed  Church,  have  proved 
abortive;  therefore, 

^^ Resolved,  That  this  Synod  no  longer  consider  the  said 
Presbytery  of  Londonderry  as  in  their  connection,  and  do 
hereby  disclaim  all  responsibility  for  any  of  its  trans^ 
actions. 

"  Ordered,  That  a  copy  of  said  resolution  be  transmitted 
to  the  Presbytery. 

"Alexander  Proudfit,  Moderator, 
"John  McJimsey,  Clerk." 


IN    NEW    ENGLAND. 


309 


"  1802,  October  2'2cl,  the  said  clerk  reported  thnt  he  had 
transiDitted  to  the  luock-rator  of  tlie  I'resbytery  of  London- 
derry the  resolution  of  J-'ynod  concerning  them." 

Thus,  after  a  history  of  aliout  twenty  years,  we  sec  the 
process  of  assimilation  to  their  surroundings  c()m))leting 
its  o])eration,  and  the  Presbyterian  version  of  the  Tsalms 
are  now,  after  expressing  the  joys  and  sorroAvs  of  the  hearts 
of  thousands  of  God's  people,  cast  (excepting  in  godly 
families)  "  to  the  moles  and  to  the  bats."  For  about  eighty 
years  these  songs  of  Jehovah  (Psalm  cxxxvii.  4)  instru- 
mentally  increased  the  faith  and  strengtliened  the  hearts 
of  the  "persecuted  Irish  brethren"  and  their  descendants; 
but  the  same  "  imitations "  which  had  worm-eaten  the 
"  Bay  State  version,"  and  punctured  it  to  death  in  the 
previous  generation,  and  also  increasingly  bleached  the 
truth  out  of  the  creeds  and  godliness  out  of  the  lives  of 
the  oli'spring  of  the  Puritans,  now  supplanted  the  "  hymns 
and  spiritual  songs  "  of  God  the  Holy  Ghost  in  both  ver- 
sions, from  the  St.  Croix  to  the  Connecticut. 

We  now  return  to  the  transactions  of  the  Presbytery, 
and  find  that  at  Londonderry,  on  Se[)tember  6,  1797, 
^^Scderunt,  Annan,  Morrison,  Toombs,  Dana,  lirown,  Oliver 
and  Pidgeon,  ministers,  with  seven  ruHng  elders,  and  that 
Rev.  ]Messrs.  Moor,  Whipple  and  Boddily  sat  as  corre- 
spondents." 

At  tiie  same  time  it  would  appear  that  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Boddily  must  have  been  a  member  of  Presbytery,  for  a 
part  of  the  minutes  roads  thus:  The  "  rei)ort  of  the  com- 
mittee to  instal  Mr.  Boddily  was  considered,  and  the  act 
of  the  committee  declared  to  be  valid."  "  ^Ir.  Walter 
Little,  a  candidate  for  licensure,  was  then  examined  and 
assigned  trials,"  and  at  Pelham,  on  ^lay  17,  1798,  after  a 
satisfactory  examination,  lie  was  licensed. 

An  item  at  Londonderry,  October  31,  1798,  is  not  easily 
understood:  ''Mr.  Boddily  petitioned  to  be  admitted  a 
member  of  Presbytery,  and  was  admitted."  He  was,  above 
a  year  before,  installed  in  the  Second  Church,  Newbury- 
port,  which  liad  been  organized  by  Presbytery  in  October, 
1795.  "The  Second  Church  and  parish  in  Newliury  re- 
quested to  be  received  into  Presbytery.  The  congregation 
was  received,  and  a  call  from  them  for  Mr.  Toombs  was 
presented  to  him ;  he  declared  his  acceptance  of  it,  and  his 


;j 

1 1 
I 


1 
i! 


310 


HISTORY  OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


II? 


if 


installation  was  appointed  to  take  place  on  November  28th, 
which,  notwithstanding  a  remonstrance,  Avas  then  and 
there  eflV'cted. 

At  their  meeting  at  Derry,  on  June  12,  1799,  a  request 
for  the  assistance  of  Kev.  Messrs.  Brown  and  Boddily  to 
ordain  a  Mr.  81ea  (a  Congregationalist)  at  Bytield,  was 
made,  *' wliich  Presbytery  does  not  grant." 

At  "  Newburyport,  October  9,  1799 — Read  a  letter  from 
the  committee  of  the  New  Hampshire  convention  on  the 
necessity  of  sending  ministers  to  the  frontiers  of  that  State 
to  preach."  Rev.  Messrs.  Morrison  and  Dana  were  ap- 
pointed to  answer  it  and  report  tt)  Presbytery. 

At  this  meeting  it  was  ascertained  that  the  Rev.  David 
Annan  had  become  so  immoral  that  Presbytery  now  com- 
menced those  investigations  by  which  he  was  eventually 
deposed  from  the  ministry. 

At  Londonderry,  June  11,  1800,  sederunt,  eight  ministers 
and  eight  elders.  On  the  appointment  ot"  the  ()r(hnation 
of  Mr.  Little,  to  take  place  in  Antrim  in  September,  while 
this  Presbytery  would  not  gra.it  the  request  tiiat  at  tiie 
ordination  of  Mr.  Slea  at  Byficld,  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Brown 
and  Boddily  might  assist,  and  lend  their  libre  of  apostolic 
succession — yet,  they  now  formally  re(|uest  the  Rev.  Messrs. 
^'  Barnes  of  Hillsboro,  Bradford  of  Francestown,  and  Page 
of  Hancock  to  assist  at  liis  ordination." 

The  light  of  the  nineteenth  cdntury  had  now  dawned, 
tlie  consistency  of  the  previous  one  was  "  behind  the  age," 
Congregationalism  was  increasingly  in  the  ascendant,  ai  d 
at  its  shrine  a  peace  offering  was  to  be  immolated. 
Whether  they  formed  a  part  ''of  the  Presbytery  "  who  laid 
hands  on  him  or  not,  does  not  appear,  yet  the  record  of 
September  2,  1800,  reads  thus : 

"  Met  to  ordain  Mr.  Little.  When  called  to  deliver  his 
popular  sermon  he  said  that  lie  had  daily  to  attend  fun- 
erals, sometimes  two  to  four  in  a  day,  to  visit  a  number  of 
sick  persons,  and  he  hoped  the  Presbytery  would  be  so 
kind  as  excuse  him  for  these  reasons.  Excused  accord- 
ingly.    Examined  him  and  ordained  him." 

At  "  Londonderry,  June  9tli,  18;)1,  the  Constitution  of 
the  General  Assembly  was  considered,,  imd  a  continued 
attention  to  it  was  recommended  to  tlie  churches  under 
their  care,  with  a  viev/  of  its  being  adopted  with  some  few 


W"  'r' 


IN   NEW   ENGLAND. 


311 


exceptions,  at  the  first  meeting  of  Presbytery."  "  Presby- 
teriul  sermons  are  in  future  to  be  the  subject  of  mutual 
private  criticism." 

On  June  9tli,  1802,  Mr.  David  McGregor  was  licensed, 
and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Taggart  applied  for  a  certificate  of  min- 
isterial standing.  Trials  were  assigned  to  Mr.  Matthew 
Taylor.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Dana  was  directed  to  obtain  for 
sale  and  distribution  eighteen  copies  of  tlie  Constitution 
of  the  General  Assembly. 

Ahhough  this  was  done,  yet  many  of  the  people  had 
read  in  an  old  book,  "  Meddle  not  with  them  that  are  given 
to  change,"  and  when,  on  October  13th,  they  met,  the 
record  runs  thus : 

"  Will  the  Presbyter}''  now  adopt  the  General  Assembly's 
Constitution  in  toto?  It  was  negatived,  and  they  adopted 
it  in  substance  as  a  directory." 

They  were  still  unprepared  to  "  explicitly  unite  with 
any  particular  Synod  and  with  tlie  Assembly  at  the  South- 
ward." On  June  8th,  180o,  they  considered  the  "official 
documents  of  a  Rev.  Mr.  Giles,  and  on  a  request  from  the 
Second  Cliurch  in  Newburyport,  they  voted  to  induct  him 
there  "  in  July.  When  the  time  came,  they  found  that  he 
"made  some  difference  on  the  subject  of  baptism  from 
Presbyterians,"  yet  "  they  installed  him." 

On  July  19th  a  Rev.  Mr.  Colby,  it  was  aj)pointed,  should 
be  installed  in  Chester,  but  when  the  day,  the  12th  of  Oc- 
tober, came,  a  ^Ir.  D.  Baker,  of  Pembroke,  tabled  a  com- 
plaint against  him.  Yet,  as  the  pastoral  relation  between 
him  and  that  town  had,  by  a  ''  result  of  council,"  been 
dissolved,  "Mr.  Baker's  complaint  and  that  of  Pembroke 
were  dismissed  as  disorderly,"  and  he  was  on  the  next 
day  installed  in  Chester. 

"This  Presbytery  cannot  consistently  grant  the  GofTs- 
town  request,  considered  as  a  I^i'csbyterian  incorporation, 
because  in  that  capacity  they  had  united  with  the  Congre- 
gational incorporation  in  Goiistown,  in  the  call  and  settle- 
ment of  Mr.  Morrell  as  the  minister  of  both  incorporations." 
A  Mr.  Robert  Heath  Noyes  was  now  examined  and  taken 
und(.'r  the  care  of  Presl>ytery.  At  Londonderry,  on  June 
loth,  1804,  Bedford  presented  a  call  for  Mr.  David  Mc- 
Gregor. 

Relative  to  the  Presbyterians  in  "  Peterboro,  a  certificate 


• 
«  «■  • 


(iji 


312 


HISTORY  OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


from  the  clerk  of  that  toAvn  was  read,  and  they  were 
allowed  the  use  of  tlic  church  one  Sabbath  in  the  year  for 
communion  in  Presbyterian  form,"  ye>,  positively  allowed 
to  use  their  father's  property  and  their  own,  as  Presl)yt(>- 
rians,  one  Sabbath  in  the  year,  liut  this  was  not  all. 
Unwilling  as  the  Presbyterians  were  to  forepjo  the  use  of 
their  property,  their  elders  must  not  any  longer  "  distin- 
guish things  wliich  differ  "  in  relation  to  the  Lord's  tabl(\ 
For,  "  Presbytery  recommended  to  the  Peterboro  church 
to  admit  to  occasional  communion  all  regular  members  of 
Congregational  churches." 

This  not  only  shews,  that  "  the  things  Avhich  (then)  re- 
mained were  ready  to  die,"  but  that  promiscuous  commu- 
nion had  not  l)een  hitherto  practised.  At  this  meeting  the 
Rev.  Andrew  Oliver  demitted  his  pastoral  charge  of  Pel- 
ham.  They  gave  to  him  a  certificate  of  good  standing, 
and  promised  him  a  hearing  there  again  in  October  follow- 
ing. At  Argyle,  N.  Y.,  on  October  loth,  1804,  he  informed 
the  Associate  Presbytery  of  Cambridge,  tliat  he  "  labored 
under  difhculties  in  his  mind  f"or  some  time  past,  respect- 
ing his  connection  Avith  the  Presbvterv  of  Londonderrv, 
and  had  resolved  to  leave  them  and  join  the  Associate 
Synod  of  North  America.  After  hearing  him  fully  he  was 
admitted  and  assigned  i)laces  in  Avhich  to  preach."  He 
returned  to  Pel  ham  in  November,  1804,  and  broke  his 
pledge  to  the  /Vssociate  Presbytery. 

Consequently,  on  his  representation  and  petition  to 
Presbytery,  in  November,  1805,  they  wrote  to  him,  and 
charge  him  with  leaving  his  religious  i)rofession  irregularly, 
and  cite  him  to  appear  at  Argyle  on  a  day  specified,  in 
February,  1806.  At  that  date  he  did  not  attend,  and  tiiey 
sent  him  a  summons  to  ajipear  at  their  next  meetiuir,  at 
Florida,  N.  Y.,  on  May  5th,  1806.  This  did  not  bring 
him ;  and  on  October  12tli,  1807,  at  Florida,  they  agreed 
to  ask  the  advice  of  their  Synod  in  his  case. 

On  June  13th,  1804.  Alexander  Conkey  was  taken  under 
care  as  a  student  in  theology. 

The  town  of  Bedford  concurred  in  calling  Mr.  David 
iNIcGregor,  and  he  was  ordained  and  installed  there  on 
September  6th,  1804,  To  aid  the  Presbytery,  though 
eight  ministers  and  ten  elders  were  present  when  the  ap- 
pointments were  made  in  June,  they  "  invited  Rev.  Messrs, 


IN    NEW   ENGLAND. 


313 


vcro 
r  for 
iwed 

,\ilL 
,e  of 
stin- 
,al)lo. 
lurch 
;rs  of 

i)  re- 
iimii- 
ig  the 
i'  Pel- 
nding, 
bllow- 
ormed 
ibored 
jspect- 
iderry, 
sociatc 
he  was 
"     He 
•ke  his 

ion  to 
lin.  and 
;ularly, 
|fied,  in 
iid  they 
jtinsx,  at 
It  brine;; 
agreed 

I  under 

.  David 

liere  on 

though 

the  ap- 

Messrs, 


Burnap  and  Barnard  to  be  at  Bedford  as  correspond- 
ents." 

At  Derry,  on  October  4th,  1S04,  the  Rev.  .Jonathan 
Brown  was  released  IVoni  liis  charge.  He  was  then  olHci- 
ally  reprelicuck'd  and  achnonished  by  the  moderator.  On 
his  own  request,  the  Rev.  Walter  Little  was  thvn  released 
from  the  pastorate  of  Antrim,  X.  H.,  and  on  June  Tith, 
1805,  he  was  dismissed  and  reconnnended  to  the  Associate 
Reformed,  Washington,  X.  Y.,  Presbytery. 

At  this  meeting  a  call  from  \\'indham  for  a  ^Ir.  Harris, 
of  Fitehburgh,  was  sustained  as  regular ;  and  on  October 
9th,  when  twelve  ministers  and  fifteen  ruling  elders  formed 
the  court,  he  was  examined,  ordained  and  installed  there. 

At  X\Mvl)ury)iort,  on  December  4th,  1805,  "the  Rev.  Mr. 
Oliver  stated,  that  he  had  joined  the  Associate  Presbytery 
of  Cambridge  prematurely,  as  they  would  not  give  him  a 
certificate  (for  no  other  reason,  but  because  he  had  sung 
Dr.  Watts'  psalms  and  hynms  in  public  worship),  and  he 
then  requested  readmission." 

He  was  by  no  means  the  only  man  under  vows  to  pre- 
sent to  (iod  "  a  ])ure  offering  "  in  praise,  who  has  em})loyed 
"the  enticing  words  of  man's  wisdom  in  preference  to  the 
words  which  the  Holy  Ghost  teacheth."  He  was  not  only 
readmitted  but  was  ])r()mised  to  receive,  when  he  might 
ask  it,  ''  a  new  certificate  to  any  of  the  General  Assembly 
Presbyteries."  The  Rev.  Mr.  Toombs,  at  this  date,  re- 
signed his  pnstoral  charge. 

He  was  "furnished  with  a  certificate  to  the  Presbytery 
nf  Columbia,  X".  Y.,  or  any  other  one  belonging  to  the 
General  Assembly." 

At  Xew  Boston,  on  February  25th,  1806,  a  call  from  that 
congregation  for  Mr.  Kphraim  P.  Bradford  was  sustained, 
and  on  tiie  "26th  he  was  examined,  ordained  and  there  in- 
stalled by  Presbytery. 

On  June  11th  Presbytery  met  at  Derry  West,  and  again 
at  Pelham,  on  September  3d,  wdien  papers  were  presented 
and  some  ordinary  business  was  done. 

At  Derry,  on  June  10th,  1807,  Mr.  iNFcConkie  Avas  dis- 
missed in  good  standin<jf,  wliile  "  Mr.  Pidgeon  was  pub- 
hcly  and  solemnly  rei)reiiended." 

They,  by  this  date,  had  am[)le  opportunity,  as  pastors 
and  congregations,  to  examine  the  standards  of  the  Gen- 


I 


m 


4 

1 

t 

314 


HISTORY   OF   niESBYTERIANISM 


V 


ill 


t 

6  ■■ , 

H 

t: 

n 

h 

Pf 

r'. 

Itfl 

p 

r 

p 

-1  ■ 

*-f 

». 

eral  Assombly,  and  tlioir  minutes  state:  "Appointed  Rev. 
Messrs.  Morrison,  MoCJre^for  and  Bradford,  to  represent 
this  Presbytery  in  Albany  ISvnod  next  October,  at  Coopers- 
town,  N.  Y." 

Not  heeding  the  Divine  injunction,  "lay  liands  sud- 
denly on  no  man,"  in  the  ease  of  Mr.  Pidgeon,  iiis  con- 
duct i)roduced  trouble.  He  was  accused  of  im])ro])ric- 
ties  by  a  young  woman,  and  was  dismissed  on  July  15th, 
1807,  from  Hampton.  Py  the  report  of  the  connnitteo 
appointed  to  take  the  evidence  of  Jane  C'larkson,  of  New- 
buryport,  his  guilt  was  established,  and  at  Derry  West,  on 
June  8th,  1808,  the  Presbytery  susjjended  him  from  the 
ministry.  On  September  28th,  on  the  strength  of  papers 
from  Minot,  in  iNIaine,  he  was  restored  "  to  ])rivate  church 
membership,  and  if  Minot  wish  him  to  j)reach,  he  may  do 
so  till  next  meeting."  "The  moderator  was  aj)}»ointed  to 
inform  the  town  of  Minot  of  the  rcsidt  of  Presbytery  on 
this  subject."  Finally,  on  June  14th,  1809,  their  record 
states :  "  Restored  Mr.  Pidgeon  to  the  ministrv  for  one 
year."  Joseph  was  not  his  patron  saint,  he  "  fell  into  re- 
proach," and  wounded  his  Saviour  "in  the  house  of  his 
friends." 

At  Derry  West,  October  14th,  1807,  a  call  from  Antrim 
for  Mr.  Jolin  M.  Whiton  was  sustained,  and  on  Sej)tcmber 
28th,  1808,  he  was  ordained  and  installed  in  that  town. 
At  their  meeting  on  the  14th  of  October,  1807,  a  letter 
from  Rev.  Dr.  John  Smith  was  received  "  on  the  imion  of 
the  church  of  Hanover  with  the  Presbytery,"  from  which 
it  may  be  fairly  inierred,  that  (as  represented  above)  the 
Presbytery  of  Grafton  no  longer  existed.  C<)nse(iuently, 
on  June  8th,  1808,  "  Granted  the  request  of  the  church  at 
Dartmouth  College  to  form  a  connectit)n  with  this  Pres- 
bytery." 

At  this  date,  "  appointed  the  stated  meetings  to  be  in  ro- 
tation, excepting  at  Coleraine  and  Dartmouth  College; 
there  they  will  be  specially  appointed." 

In  April,  1800,  Litchfield  was  received  into  the  Presby- 
tery. On  request  of  the  town,  a  Mr.  Kennedy  was,  on  the 
12th,  ordained  and  installed  there. 

At  Bedford,  Presbytery  met  and  was  constituted,  when 
eight  ministers  and  eight  elders  formed  the  court,  on  June 
14th,  1809.     "  Presbytery  declare  the  people  of  Pelhara  to 


IN    NEW  ENGLAND. 


315 


\ntrim 

itcmber 
town, 
letter 

uon  of 
which 
e)  the 
uently, 
urch  at 
Fres- 

Ic  in  ro- 
bollege ; 

'resl)y- 
on  the 

ll,  wiicn 

In  June 

Iham  to 


bo  inconstfint,  and  dismiss  the  Rov.  Mr.  Brainard  from 
tlicni,  to  take  place  on  the  14th  of  yepteml)er  next,  if  they 
j)ay  uj)  his  full  salary  till  tlu'n  and  8250  in  addition.  If 
they  do  not  ])ay,  he  continues  there  till  next  nieetin*:;." 
June  loth,  "  Voted,  to  send  a  delegation  to  All)any  Synod, 
with  powers  to  negotiate  a  connection." 

At  New  ]3oston,  on  October  25th,  1809,  Presbytery  met. 
Sederunt,  Morrison,  Dana,  McGregore,  Harris,  liratUbrd, 
AVhiton,  and  Kennedy,  ministers,  with  ruling  elders  Aiken, 
Barnes,  Craig,  Duncan,  Dinsmore,  and  McNeil;  corre- 
spondents, Uev.  Messrs.  Chapin  and  Bradlbrd,  of  Frances- 
town.  "  Mr.  Walker,  a  student,  preached  a  ])rol)ationary 
discourse."  "  Read  a  vote  of  the  General  Association  of 
N.  H.,  and  ap])ointed  the  Moderator  to  answer  it.  Ap- 
proved of  Mr,  Walker's  discourse,  and  licensed  him  to 
preach  the  gospel." 

Octol>er  2(ith,  1809,  attended  to  the  result  of  the  mission 
from  this  Presbytery  to  the  Synod  of  Albany.  Read  the 
report  of  the  comtnittee  a})p()inted  by  the  Synod  to  confer 
with  our  delegates.  Rev.  Daniel  Dana  was  appointed  our 
delegate  to  the  General  Assembly,  to  meet  at  Philadelphia 
in  May  next  i  SIO),  Rev.  Wm.  Morrison  to  be  his  alternate. 
Presbytery  to  supply  his  desk  four  days  during  his  ab- 
sence. 

"Appointed  the  next  meeting  to  be  in  Newburyport,  on 
the  first  Wednesday  in  May  next,  the  Rev.  Mr.  K(>nnedy 
to  open  it  with  a  sermon."  The  Rev.  Moses  ]>al(lwin,  who 
was  installed  in  Palmer  on  June  17th,  1701,  was  dismissed 
June  19th,  1811,  and  then  the  church  became  a  Congrega- 
tional society. 

Here  end  the  existing  records  of  the  second  Presbytery 
of  Londonderry.  Tiiey  were  continued  subsequently  for 
sixty  years,  yet  at  that  time,  through  the  carelessness  of  a 
clerk,  they  were  allowed  to  perish.  Our  quotations  till 
date  are  taken  from  a  copij  of  the  volumes,  transcribed  by  and 
for  the  writer  in  1855. 

While  we  have  now,  in  the  absence  of  continuous  rec- 
ords for  thirty-six  years,  to  draw  from  incidental  sources 
in  relation  to  the  Presbyterianism  east  of  the  river  Con- 
necticut, yet  in  Vermont  we  still  find  records  of  the  psalm- 
singing  churches.  The  others,  whose  history  we  have  so 
far  chronicled,  became  so  extensively  permeated  with  the 


'     M 


•-  • 
1 

1 

316 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


snporinciimhcnt  native  polity,  as  to  bo  "  part  Jew  and  part 
Ashdod,"  especially  in  jmhlie  worshij)  and  the  matter  of 
Divine  praise.  By  ai)andi)ning  the  Psalms,  as  presented 
in  the  liay  State  or  Presbyterian  versions,  for  the  Imita- 
tions and  relijjjions  i)ocms  of  Dr.  Watts,  domestic  worship 
lost  (almost  totally  tlu'onLrhont  New  luiLrland  )  the  ])leas!nit- 
ness  of  "shewinjf  forth  the  lovinjx-kindness  of  Clod  in  tlu; 
morning  and  of  declaring  liis  faithfulness  every  night." 
The  scenes  of  West  Running  P>rook  (by  the  descendants 
of  the  "oppressed  Irish  l)retiiren")  became  decrcasinLdy 
continued  for  half  a  century  in  their  families,  until  Thoni])- 
son  might  say, 

"Come,  then,  expressive  silcnco,  muse  Iiis  praise." 

The  majority  in  Federal  street  church  as  Congrcgation- 
alists  settled,  in  1787,  the  Rev.  Jeremy  Belknaj),  D.  I). 
"  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Massaciiusetts  His- 
torical Society,  and  devoted  much  of  his  time  to  the  jiro- 
motion  of  its  objects  and  interests."  He  not  only  pub- 
lished works  on  history  and  biograpliy,  but  also  compiled 
and  published,  in  1795,  a  volume  of  i)oetry,  which  in  some 
congregations  supplanted  the  Bay  State  versif)n  of  the 
Psalms.  He  died  in  1798,  and  was  succeeded  on  Julv  10th, 
1799,  by  the  Rev.  Jolm  S.  Popkin,  D.  D.  From  his  pas- 
toral charge  he  w^s  dismissed  on  November  '28th,  1802. 

Sixteen  years  of  ])erversion  of  a  sacred  trust,  misrule 
and  no  rule,  produced  their  effects  on  the  people.  The 
church  estate  liad  been  held  and  enjoyed  for  fifty-one 
years  by  a  trust  deed  of  a  charitable  nse,  which,  in  the 
hands  of  the  lawful  owners,  the  Presl)yterians,  had  proved 
to  be  operative  for  all  ecclesiastical  purposes.  But  now,  to 
the  occupants,  it  brought  trouble.  Like  savages  who,  when 
they  had  boarded  a  ship  and  overpowered  the  seamen, 
were  not  able  to  navigate  her,  so  it  was  with  th(>se  depre- 
dators. While  Little  owned  the  house  he  could  collect  the 
pew-tax,  and  so,  by  virtue  of  his  deed  to  them,  could  the 
Presbyterians  easily,  while  they  were  in  possession  ;  but 
Hot  so  with  the  Congregationalists.  Persons  would  occupy 
seats  and  pay  as  they  pleased.  Hence,  less  pleasant  times 
came,  and  this  even  after  the  Rev.  Wm.  P^llery  Channinj,' 
was,  on  June  1st,  1803,  ordained  their  pastor.  The  de- 
scendants of  "the  Scotch-Irish"  had  been,  under  their 


IN   NEW  ENGLAND. 


317 


I  part 
tcr  of 
:cutc(l 
Iiuila- 

\\\  tlu! 

lulanls 
isindy 
'homp- 


^cffition- 
,,  I).  1). 
Its  His- 
he  pvo- 
ily  pu^'- 

in  sonic 
11  of  the 
10th, 
lis  pas- 
.S()2. 
misrule 
The 
fifty-one 
,  in  the 
proved 
t  now,  to 
10,  when 
seamen, 
;o  (lepre- 
)ncct  the 
•oiild  the 
n ;  hut 
d  occupy 
lint  times 
::banning 
The  de- 
der  their 


adopted  cliurcli  regimen,  since  178G,  pernnittcd  to  dwell 
alone;  but  iVom  this  date  otluirs,  attra('te(l  l^y  the  snaviter 
hi  modo  and  oratory  ot"  the  youn^  preacher,  voluntarily 
as.so(dated  with  them,  until  ''  the  Presbyterian  meeting- 
house"  was  tilled  with  Trinitarian  Congrej^ationalists. 
Yet  neither  oratory  nor  nund)ers  brou^ijlit  abidinij;  peace. 

When  Ahab,  wicked  as  he  was,  desired  to  have  tlie  vine- 
yard of  Naboth  for  a  garden  of  herbs,  he  offered  bun  an 
ccpiivalent  in  money  or  in  land.  Not  so  here.  They  had 
entered  in  and  taken  possession,  while  the  trust  deed  was 
on  record,  and  tiie  heirs  of  John  Little  and  the  Presbv- 
terian  minority  (Mrs.  Cuptain  Wilson  and  others)  might 
at  any  time,  apparently,  invoke  the  equity  of  the  law. 
Consetjuently,  as  ''  they  experienced  inconvenience  in  the 
management  of  the  prudential  concerns  of  said  society, 
from  the  want  of  legal  authority  to  assess  and  collect" 
under  th(;ir  perversion  of  schism,  they  invoked  the  arm  of 
the  Legislature  to  sanction  their  perversion  of  the  trust. 

To  this  end  the  following  action  was  taken: 

"At  a  meeting  of  the  proprietors  of  the  meeting-honse 
and  lot  in  Federal  street,  held  at  the  school-house  on  said 
lot,  on  Monday  evening,  March  5th,  18U4  "  (nine  months 
and  four  days  after  the  settlement  of  Mr.  Channing),  "being 
the  annual  meeting — voted,  that  the  standing  committee 
be  authorized  to  apply  to  the  General  Court  for  the  passing 
of  such  law  as  they  may  think  necessary  or  beneficial  to 
the  society," 

This  germ  they  incubated  for  above  fifteen  months. 
The  trust  deed  stood  out  in  bold  relief;  Little's  reserved 
"  pew  and  seat "  could  not  be  totally  eradicated  ;  the  seat 
of  Mrs.  Captain  AN'ilson,  which  had  been  forced  to  a  sale, 
was  not  too  far  off  to  whisper  to  its  owner,  so  that,  if  appli- 
cation were  made  for  a  Legislative  strangling  of  the  Pres- 
hyterian  rights,  a  remonstrance  might  possibly  be  made; 
and  withal,  conscience  was  as  yet  extensively  a  power  in 
legislation — that  "oath"  which  is,  in  Christendom,  to  men 
''for  confirmation  an  end  of  all  strife,"  had  not  yet  been 
substituted  by  the  fear  of  Cliarlostown  or  Sing  Sing.  In 
framing,  interpreting,  and  executing  law  in  Massachusetts, 
men  yet  swore  by  the  ever  living  God,  Father,  Son,  and 
Holy  Ghost,  one  God.  Hence,  to  ascertain  what  was 
"necessary  or  beneficial  to  the  society,"  which  the  General 


,1"  '■»"[ 


318 


HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIAMSM 


it',! 


Court  mi;,'ht  prnnt,  could  not  bo  dotorminofl  in  three 
montlis  l>y  said  coMuuittt'c,  iiidcd  by  any  dcsirrd  anioiuit 
of  the  wisdom  of  the  SulVolk  bar.  S|)riii<i:  sjtread  (lut  her 
foliage,  tlie  doj^-star  ukuIo  his  annual  visit,  autunui  pro- 
duced the  "«ero  and  yellow  leaf,"  winter  returned  and 
assumed  his  domain  in  New  Kn<j;land — tiie  "  rrojirietor's 
annual  meetin<f ''  recurred  ;  spring;  witii  her  precious  iidlu- 
CMices  ajjain  bespread  the  land,  and  still  the  "  law"  ''  neces- 
sary or  beneficial  "  in  their  opinion  had  not  Ix^mi  (Miacted. 
"  Tlu!  want  of  Icfjal  authority  to  assess  and  collect  "  l)ecamo 
increasin^dy  a  realization  in  their  experience,  and  at  last, 
before  the  members  of  the  Legislature  from  tlie  rural  dis- 
tricts should  atrain  rusticate,  the  occu|)ants  make  "their 
coura<:;e  cheery,"  and  the  document  of  which  the  Ibllowin;^ 
is  an  attested  copy  was  placed  in  the  archives  of  the 
State : 

"To  the  Honorable  the  Senate  and  the  Honorable  the 
House  of  Representatives  of  the  Commonwealth  of 
Massachusetts,  in  General  Court  assembled, 

"  Respectfully  rei)resent : 

"The  proprietors  of  tli(>  meetincj-house  and  lot  in  Fed- 
eral street,  in  Boston,  that  (hoji  experience  in  convenience  in 
the  m(in(i(/nn('iit  of  tlic  priKhntial  conrcrnK  of  said  Socictij  fr<nn 
the  want  of  Icf/al  nnt/iorit;/  Id  r/.s.so'.s  and  collect  the  sums  iicccs- 
sari/  for  the  t^tipjiort  of  rellyious  icurship  and  other  exic/encies  of 
said  Socivti/. 

''Tliey  th(M'eforo  pray  this  Honorable  Court,  that  tlie 
proprietors  of  pews  in  said  meelinu-house  niay  be  consti- 
tuted a  body  politic  and  corporate,  by  tlic  name  of  the 
^ReHgioiiH  Societi/  In.  Fcdcrol  iSlreet,  in  the  Town  of  Boston,'' 
with  the  usual  powers  udven  to  like  corporations  relative 
to  the  choice  of  necessary  ollicers  and  holding  of  meetings; 
■witii  power  also  to  hold  in  tliat  capacity  the  meetingdiouso 
and  lot  aforesaid  with  the  ministerial  house  lately  erected 
on  said  lot  by  said  ])roprietors,  and  such  other  estate,  real 
or  ])ersonal,  as  may  be  ac(piired  by  or  accrue  to  said  society 
and  be  by  them  appropriated  to  tlie  sui)port  of  i)ublic  wor- 
ship and  the  maintenance  of  a  teacher  or  teacliers  of  piety, 
religion  and  morality ;  and  that  said  society,  so  incorpO' 
rated,  may  be  authorized  to  make  contracts  with  any 


m^yrr 


IN    NEW   ENGLAND. 


819 


three 
loimt 
it  luT 
jiro- 
iind 
('tor's 
hiilu- 

l\<'('fS- 

ai'tcd. 
foauie 
it  last, 
ill  (lis- 
"tlioir 

of  the 


)lc  the 
ilth   of 


in  Fed- 

iciice  bi 

\c(jj  from 

as  neccs- 

■ncies  of 

Ihiit  the 

consti- 

|c  of  the 

jrehitive 
loc'tiniis ; 
ig-houso 

erected 
Into,  real 
ll  society 
l)lic  wor- 

)f  piety, 
lincorpo' 
lith  any 


teacher  or  toacnors  of  the  {loscrij)tion  aforesaid  for  tlicir 
sii|)|)ort  and  niaintcnance,  to  make  any  perinaiuMit  or 
animal  j^rant  to  any  such  teacher  or  teachers  which  they 
may  judjjfo  expedient,  and  to  lay  and  assess  such  taxes 
from  time  to  time  on  the  pows  in  said  nieetin;;-house,  or 
any  other  meetin;2;-]ious(>  that  may  he  erected  in  place  of 
the  present  house,  as  they  shall  lind  necessary  lor  tho 
fore^oint:;  purposes,  and  also  for  the  npairint:  said  nieetinL";- 
houso  and  their  ministcriid  house?  aforesaid,  and  for  dis- 
char«j;in<;  any  arreara<j;es  arising  IVoni  th(>  erectinu;  and  com- 
j)leting  said  n)inisterial  house,  and  for  tlu;  other  necessary 
expenditures  of  said  society.  And  as  in  duty  bound  shall 
ever  prav,  etc.,  etc. 
"Boston,  June  lOth,  1805. 

"  Jxo.  Davis,  Tiios.  Lamr,         ")  r>        •  i    ^ 

Simon  Elliot,      Tiios.  Thompson,  \     <-^"""ittco. 

"  Edward  Tuckeuman,  Jr.,  Daniel  Dennison  Rogers, 
Henry  Hunter." 

"In  the  House  of  Rei)rescntatives,  Juno  lOtli,  1805. 
Re.'id  and  conunitted  to  the  Standing  Comniittee  of  Incor- 
poration of  Parishes,  etc.,  to  consider  and  report.  Sent  up 
for  concurrence.  "Timothy  Bigelow,  Speaker. 

"In  Senate,  Juno  11th,  1-805.     Read  and  concurred. 

"  H.  G.  Otis,  President. 
"Passed  Juno  15th,  1805." 

Prohahly  not  on  record  does  there  stand  a  inoro  furtive 
Legislative  enactment,  signed,  and  then  read  three  times 
on  the  lOth,  three  times  on  the  11th,  and  the  moni(}nt  tho 
five  days  (which  any  such  enactment  required  the  Clov- 
ernor  to  ])ause  hefore  ho  signed  any  hill)  are  ])assed,  it 
becomes  "such  law  as  they  think  necessary  or  beneficial" 
to  the  "  Proprietor's  committee." 

This,  prohahly,  was  the  last  Congregational  parisli  formed 
in  Massachusetts,  and  now  i\'eshyterianism  in  the  town  of 
Boston  (like  "John  l^Arleycorn  ")  under  "  solenm  oath," 
"must  die,"  and  be  robbed  of  a  place  of  sejiulture  on  its  own 
ground.  The  text  of  the  act  will  (D.  V.)  be  afterwards 
co^isidered. 


3'20 


IITSTOin-    OV    rHKSnYTKHIAMSM 


i'i 


t' 


As  a  'rrinilnrian  society,  tlu^  occup.'iuts  lloiirislKMl  in 
iiumlxTs  uinlci' tilt'  IJcv.  Mr.  ( 'iKiimiiiL'.  I'roni  ;)  coinitiira- 
t ivcly  sm:ill  muiuImm"  of  tnicc  Irish  looki.i^  ri't'sl)yt(M'i;uis, 
by  ;issiiuil;itiii,u  cMcnsivt'ly  tluir  siuTdUiulinLis,  tlicy,  in  a. 
it'W  years,  more  llian  lillcil  the  •  xcr  nu  inoralilc  old  "  1'\m1 
(M'al  Strcti  ri'csltyti'rian  Clinrrli."  tlic  cvcr-jrlorions  cfown- 
inu;  spot,  llic  hiiiliitlacc  of  national  lil'i' anionij;  the  sistcr- 
liood  ot'  States,  to  Massaehnsetts.  Clianninu'  W'.'is  not  onlv 
instaileil  as  a  Trinitaiian  preacher,  Imt  yi>ars  atterwaiils 
lie  (then  helieved  to  lie  sneli  >  hapt  i/ed  a  iM'andeliild  of  t  lie 
Kev.  John  Moorehead  (the  Ilex.  A.  W.  MeClnre,  D.  !>., 
resident  ii;  1ST.)  in  Maiden,  Mass.)  when  said  MeClni'e's 
])a rents,  in  eonnnon  with  many  ( it"  not  alh  othei's,  helieved 
jiini  to  he  (and  enjoyeil  his  ndnistry  as  ^  a  lujievi  r  in  the 
Oivinily  ot'  (lod  tin*  Son.  Tin' depai'tnre  iVom  Treshyic- 
vianisni  in  ^oxaaannent  and  worship  soon  hei'aine  exten- 
j^ive,  ii"  not  eoniplele,  while  "the  doetnne  oj"  (hxj  our 
Savionr,"  tanj-hi  hy  Morehead.  was  more  lei^nrely  ahaii- 
doned.      Ihit  all  were  sinking;  touet hiM". 

"At  the  he.uinninL!;  of  this  eentnry  tsays  Waanilye.  pa;'t> 
'Ai'))  «ireal  theological  diHta'taiccs  existed  in  Xewhm'yport  ; 
jind  in  this  the  town  was  :\i\  epitome  of  New  i'-iiuland. 
Conf roxaa'sy  xxas  rile  and  alienations  existed.  Seari'elv 
:iny  two  ehnrehes  maintained  conminiuon  with  each 
oth(M',  anti  i>f  six  miinstiM's  ol'  near  denominational  eoni- 
])lexion.  scarce  two  aurced  in  theoloi:y."'  In  tinu's  past, 
o\\  the  doctrine  of  the  New  Mnuland  Primer  and  in  the 
ns(»  of  till*  common  matter  ol'  praise,  the  "  I'.ay  State  l*sahn- 
boolc,"  they  had  to  som(>  exttait  "  maintained  the  nnity  of 
the  Spirit  in  the  hond  of  peace."'  Ihit  now  I lopkinsianism 
was  (>\tensix'ely  dilVnsed,  xxhilc  it  with  I'anmonism  and 
other  kindi'cd  speculations  wer(>  sappinsi;  the  fonndations 
*)f  the  once  Puritan  ehin'chcs  ;  and  Hr.  Channinu'  (who  was 
Itrouiiht  up  at  the  feet  of  i)r.  llojdsins,  of  xvhose  *'hun'h  his 
father  was  a  niemher)  hecame  progressively  unsound  in 
the  faith,  until  in  a  lew  years  he,  with  all  the  ministers  o\' 
the  toxvn,  exct'ptinu;  possibly  Ilunlinuton,  of  the  Old  South, 
by  the  shiftiuii;  tpiieksands  of  ('onurei:;ati(Mialism,  always 
"suHicicntly  divine,"  o|»posed  "tln>  faith  once  delivci'ed  to 
the  saints,"  which  had.  as  held  by  the  I'ilurims  and  the 
J*uritaus,  iHMilo  Now  Eiigkuid  very  extensively  "  ii  pruisc 
ill  tlie  ear  til." 


TX     NF.W    KXr.I.AN'n. 


321 


1  m 
;iva- 

i\\   :i 

islt'V- 
oi\ly 

i>.  IK. 

hive's 

n  tlu' 
s\>ylt'- 

1(1    'Uir 
;\l>:iu- 

i-y|HMt ; 


i\ 


As  IIh"  new  prraclicr  in  a  New  Mimlaiid  town  lias  usu- 
ally a  clianui'ii  cliaiMi'ttM'  as  "iln'  roiuinu'  man,"  .so  tlio 
Itrcslim' of  till-    l\('\.  W.  1!.  ClianiiiiiL;  iiu'i'cast'd  S(>riuin^ly 


on  in  1  III'  wooilcn  "  Irish  Vvvs- 

I  t. 


wilh  a  Lit'onictniMl  pro 

liytcfian  nicriini^-lioiiso.  '  unt:l  ni  .m\  yoais  it  apitcarrd  lot) 
ni-;ti(',  ItoiMino  loo  anti(]ii.ili'(l.  and  in  \S'J\)  a  lu'ick  huild- 
iii'i,  capalilr  o|'  scat imr  VIS   iicrsuns,  was  t 


•rccti'd  on  .lolin 
Lilllr's  lot.  in  wliioli  new  lioiisc  Ids  "  pew  or  soat,"  iici'ortl- 
iiv_!,-  to  tho  diM'd  ol"  trnsi.  \\a->  rclMiilt  and  pn'scrvi'd.  In 
tins  point  'Milt'  oltli«j,at  ions  ol'  the  con  tract."'  luadc  soviMity- 
I'our  years  Ix-I'orc.  wci'c  not  yet  "impaired."  while,  hy  tho 
piiri'hase  ol"  MS  s(pi,ire  Icct  Irom  t he  adjoiniiii;'  lot.makiiiiij 
II,  with  the  I'rcsl.vtcrian  lot  ..I'  {."..('.('.i  t'cet.  lt,lS'J  stiuaro 


in  a 


Iret.they  were  enalilcil  to  creel  a  "mnusterial  house,     pri 
laiieally  cillcd  a  p;i 


rsonaiic 

Iv  lipsiiiL;-  in  a  I'ew  yen's  the  other  ministers  of  the  town, 
llunliniiton,  Lathrop,  Me!<ley.  Mliot,  West  and  KirUland, 
ill  "  proplu'syiiii^-  smooth  ihinus,"  his  t"ame  heeame  exteii- 
sivi\  as  he  iimored  eventually  the  divinity  ol'(iotl  (he  Son, 
and  preat'hed  "  another  .u;ospel.  which  was  not  another." 

Tlu"  tidal  wa\e  ol"  I  nitarianisni  now  hroke  over  much 
el"  New  I'-urland.  especially  in  Massachusetts,  and  many, 
who  were  "  lovers  of  pleasure  niitre  than  lovers  ot"  ( Jod,'' 
hc-an  to  .id'^i'y  in  the  niornin;j;  li^ht  ol"  "taste,"  eulturo 
and  "advanccil  thou  dit  ""  in  "he  nincleenlh  century. 

Not  withstandinu'  his  increasim:-  popularity,  he  was  not  a 
pcirci't.  (>xei'ptiou  (o  the  rule.  (hat.  "a  prophet,  is  not  with- 
ciii  honor,  save  in  his  own  house."  tor  when  an  admirer 
WiMiid  (as  (he  story  tclls^  llatter  i>ne  of  his  aunts  hy  (Hilo- 
u:i/inu'  him  (o  her.  (Iu>  person  was  answered:  "  1  know  all 
thai;  th(>  devil  never  employs  a  fool  to  do  his  business.'' 
"How  l"oreii>le  are  riuht  words." 

Ilavinu' seen  the  Tsalnis  iunored  and  t"<>rsaken  east  ot"  (ho 
river  ('oimecticut.  we  now  trace  their  history  hrielly  oudie 
\"erinon(  side.  1  use  (he  word  I'salms  as  a  eoeirieieu(.  of 
the  lypc  of  l'iTshy(erianism  which  settled  liOiulonderry  in 
l.l'.>.  ,\  loim",  lierce  controvirsy  existed  hetweeu  New 
\erk  and  New  ll;impshire  as  to  (he  sov.M'cimdy  of  (he 
(ireen  mountain  rcLiion.  This  was  amieahly  adjustetj  in 
1  Till >,  and  in  IT'.H  Vermont  was  admitted  ti>  ("ellowship 
anioiiir  the  I'niteil  States.  Lom;-  before  (his,  however, 
iVshytt-riaus  settled  in  iJarnot  and  Uyogate.  In  1775 
21 


P 


i         I 


m 


322 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


Barnet  began  to  be  settled  by  emigrants  from  Scotland, 
■Nvho  soon  composed  the  great  majority  of  the  inhabitants. 
The  Rev.  John  \Vithersi)oun,  on  Sei)teniber  !Sth,  ITGo,  he- 
came  owner  by  charter  from  New  Hampshire  of  28,000 
acres  of  land  in  Vermont  on  the  Connc'clieut  river.  Com- 
panies were  formed.  Gen.  James  ^\'hitelaw,  an  emigrant 
sent  out  as  tlieir  agent,  purchased  in  1773  a  large  body  of 
land  ibr  the  ''  Scots-American  Com})any,"  of  Kfmfrewsliirc, 
composed  of  140  families,  most  of  whom  were  farmers.  It 
hap])ened  in  tiiis  way.  Providentially  meeting  Whitelaw 
in  Philadelphiji,  on  his  arrival,  May  24th,  1773,  Dr.  Withe  i- 
spo(m  said  that  if  he  (and  David  Allen)  could  not  suit 
themselves  better,  he  would  sell  to  them.  After  hxjking 
around  for  five  months,  they  bought  from  him.  This  pur- 
chase embraced  the  south  half  of  Ryegate.  It  was  ol)tained 
from  Dr.  Witherspoon  at  *' three  shillings  York  money" 
per  acre.  Col.  Alexander  Harvey  was  another  emigrant 
from  Scotland,  sent  out  as  the  agent  of  "  The  Farmers' 
Company,  of  Perthshire  and  Sterlinpishire,"  to  j)urchas(! 
land  for  them.  In  1774  he  })urchased  7,000  acres  in  the 
southwest  iKirt  of  Barnet,  the  price  being  fourteen  })enco 
sterling  (about  twenty-five  cents)  an  acre.  The  emigrants 
from  Scothmd  in  these  two  towns  were  distinguished  for 
religious  knowledge,  being  well  acquainted  with  tiie  lluly 
Scriptures.  Tliey  daily  observed  tlie  worship  of  (Jod  in 
their  families,  making  their  numerous  hill-tops  resonant 
with  "  Dundee  and  plaintive  martyrs  "  in  the  use  of 

"Tlio.se  strains  that  once  did  sweet  in  Zion  glide." 

They  were  careful  to  bring  up  their  children  "in  tlio 
nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord."  They  strictly 
sanctified  the  Sabbath  and  loved  the  house  of  God. 

Feeling  the  Avant  of  the  public  ordinances  of  reli<;i()ii. 
they  made  strenuous  endeavors,  ))efore  and  during  the 
revolutionary  war,  to  obtain  them,  and  after  repeat(Ml  ef 
forts  they  succeeded,  lieibre;  tiie  war,  during  and  after  it, 
several  clergymen,  most  of  whom  were  Presbyterians,  came 
and  preached  in  these  two  towns. 

Dr.  Witherspoon  visited  liarnet  and  Ryegate  two  or 
three  times,  and  preached  and  ba])tized  The  lirst  visit 
vfaa  probably  in  1775,  and  in  1782  he  returned,  when  he 


IN    NEW    ENGLAND. 


323 


md, 
.uts. 

Joiu- 

:rant 
iy  of 
siilve, 
s.     U 
itclaw 
itlirv- 
>t  Buit 

is  pvAv- 

)t'cun<'d 
umcy  " 
ui'firant 

s  in  the 


iiiv; 


\\\c  Holy 


rode  the  saddle  on  wliioli  Ids  son  sat  at  the  battle  of  Ger- 
mantown,  and  which  Ijore  the  mark  ot"  the  ball  which 
killed  him.  As  these  enniirants  purchased  lart^e  tracts  of 
land  in  the  county,  had  llourishinir  settlements  in  liarnet 
and  Ryeffate,  and  were  distinuuishcd  for  their  intelliirence, 
integrity,  enterprise,  industry  and  jjatriotism,  as  well  as 
for  their  religious  character,  the  county  was  called  by  the 
ancient  Roman  name  of  Scotland — "Oaledonia."  County 
buildings,  u  courtdiouse  and  jail,  wen;  erected  in  due  time, 
but  for  nearly  half  a  century  the  latti'r  of  these  especially 
did  little  else  than  protect  the  sheep  as  a  ]>lace  of  shade  on 
hot  sunnner  days.  As  they  "  glorihed  CJod  in  tlie  highest," 
so  they  "  on  earth  "  maintained  "  peace  and  good  will  to- 
ward men." 

Hence,  among  them  for  a  generation  or  two  crime  was 
but  little  known.  They  "  lived  quiet  and  peaceable  lives 
in  godliness  and  honesty."'  In  1775  the  Rev.  Thomas 
Clark,  of  Salem,  N.  Y.,  ])reached  in  these  towns,  and  re- 
turned two  or  throe  times.  The  Rev.  Robert  Annan,  when 
pastor  in  Boston,  preached  to  them  in  1784  and  in  1785 — 
his  brother  David  also  in  1785.  The  Rev.  John  Houston, 
of  Bedford,  N.  11.,  visited  them  in  1785,  returned  in  1787, 
and  remained  a  year.  In  1780  the  town  of  Barnet  voted 
unanimously  "to  choose  the  Presbyterian  form  of  religious 
worship,  founded  U])on  the  word  of  (lod,  as  expressed  in 
the  Confession  of  Faith,  Catechisms,  Larger  and  Shorter, 
with  the  form  of  Presbyterian  church  government  agreed 
upon  by  the  Assembly  of  divines  at  Westminster,  and 
I)raetised  by  the  Church  of  Scotland." 

In  1787  the  town  and  church  of  Barnet  sent  a  joint  peti- 
tion to  the  Associate  Presbyterian  Synod  of  Scotland  for  a 
minister,  offering  to  pay  the  ex])ense  of  his  passage  to  this 
country.  They  were  directed  to  a])ply  to  the  Associate 
Presbvterv  of  Pennsvlvania.  Thev  did  so,  and  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Beveridge  came  and  ])rcached  in  1789,  and  re- 
turned in  1790.  The  Rev.  David  Goodwillie,  in  conse- 
quence of  an  a])])lication  to  the  same  Presbytery,  came  in 
tlio  autunm,  and  continued  his  ministrations  in  '»i)rn  ,t 
and  Ryegate  until  February,  1700,  in  which  year  l.e  was 
unanimously  called  to  be  their  ])astor,  Ryegate  receiving 
one-sixth  i)art  of  his  olBcial  labors.  In  September,  1790, 
he  returned,  and  was  aettled  as  the  minister  of  the  town 


«  •'  •  ■ 


mm^ 


324 


HISTORY   OF    PRESBYTERIAXISM 


!■! 


of  Rarnct  and  pastor  of  the  chuvcli.  In  1707  a  mceting- 
liouse  frame  was  erected  at  Rve^ate  Corner.  It  was  the 
first  in  the  town,  but  was  not  finished  till  LSOO.  We  see 
that  Ryegate  was  to  receive  only  one-sixth  of  the  lal)()rs 
of  the  pastor.  The  reason  appears  to  have  l)een  that  a 
new  clement  of  Pr(>sl)yterianisni  had  heen  introduced. 

The  RciV.  \\'illiam  Gibson,  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 
Church,  had  visited  them  and  become  a  cnndidate  for  the 
ministry  of  the  town  and  pastorate  of  the  church  ;  conse- 
quently, on  July  2Uth,  17iH),  a  meeting  was  cidled  "to  see 
if  they  will  settle  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gibson  as  their  town  min- 
ister— or  make  a])i)lication  to  any  other  Piesbytery  to 
furnish  them  with  one."'  "Adjourned  till  September  3d, 
then  till  December  8d,  179'),  when  th(!y  voted — 33  for,  and 
13  against  it.  On  December  lOth  the  conmiittee  rejjorted 
to  the  town  me(>ting  that  the  Rev.  William  (Jibson  will 
settle  with  them.''  There  were  then  in  Ryegate  (58  polls,  5 
clocks,  90  scholars  in  their  two  schools,  and  the  town 
valuation  was  S(),71().85.  To  these  13,  out  of  40,  and  those 
whom  they  represented  the  Rev.  Mr.  Goodwillie  gave  the 
one-sixth  of  his  labor. 

In  common  with  all  frontier  towns,  these  pioneers  were 
not  only  at  times  alarmed  by  the  Indians,  but  their  lives 
and  substance  were  often  endangered  by  wolves  and 
bears,  which,  being  "very  numerous,  were  not  so  easy  to 
subdue." 

Another  matter  may  be  here  noticed — the  endurance 
which  it  required  in  winter  to  attend  j)ul)lic  worshi]).  The 
modern  fair  weather  worshipper,  with  his  furs,  seated  on 
a  cushion  in  an  audience  chamber,  warmed  up  artificially 
to  65°  or  70^,  while  the  thermometer  may  be  near  zero 
without,  can  but  ver}'  inqoerfectly  comprehend  what  was 
endured  by  the  Calvinists  of  New  England  (Congregation- 
alists  and  Presley terians  alike)  in  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  centuries.  To  show  this,  I  quote  from  a  sermon 
"  preached  in  Townscnd,  Mass.,  on  October  10th,  1870,  by 
Rev.  G,  H.  Morss,  acting  Pastor."  "  The  only  meetings 
enjoyed  by  the  fathers  in  the  early  days  of  the  church 
were  the  two  services  of  the  Sabbath. 

"  The  public  services  were  enlivened  and  spiritualized 
by  the  singing  of  the  Psalms  of  David."  The  Bay  State 
version  was  reluctantly  exchanged  by  some  congregations 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


325 


t\ie 

see 

Dors 

at  a 

>nan 
r  the 
[)nse- 
,()  see 
iiiin- 
ry  to 
2r  3d, 
r,  and 
^)uvte(l 
in  wil} 
)oUs,  5 
town 
1  those 
ive  the 

ys  were 
4r  hves 
es   and 

easy  to 

llurance 
p.   The 
lated  oil 
iiicuiUy 
■iir  zero 
Kit  was 
icgatlon- 
th  and 
scrniou 

870,  i)y 

ineethvjs 

church 

itualizPt^ 
jay  Btate 
j-egations 


only  after  tlio  Pvevohition.  It  was  nsod  in  Townscnd 
eliurch  till  177<>.  The  intermission  hctween  service  was 
usually  spent  in  the  meeting-house,  or  in  some  of  tin) 
houses  near  iiy,  or  in  what  were  known  as  "  tSahha  day  " 
or  noon  houses.  In  these  they  enf^aiied  in  private  discus- 
sions of  tiie  topics  of  the  morninu's  discourse,  or  Scrijituro 
reading,  or  in  the  personal  reading  and  study  of  God's 
word. 

These  houses  consisted  of  four  rooms,  ten  or  twelve  feet 
square,  with  a  fire-phice  in  each  room.  They  were  gen- 
erally huilt  at  the  expense  of  four  or  more  i)ersons,  to  be 
occupied  only  on  the  Sabbath  by  their  families  or  such 
guests  as  they  invited  to  join  wdth  them.  Dry  fuel  Avas 
kept  ready  for  kindling  hre,  and  usually  a  barrel  of  cider 
for  each  family  was  j)laced  in  the  cellar. 

On  the  morning  of  the  Sabbath,  in  cold  weather,  the 
owner  of  each  room  dej^osited  in  his  saddle-bags  the  neces- 
sary refreshment  for  himself  and  family,  and  took  an  early- 
start  for  the  sanctuar}'.  He  lirst  called  at  his  noon  house, 
built  a  fire,  deposited  his  luncheon,  warmed  himself  and 
family,  and  at  the  hour  they  were  all  ready  to  sally  forth 
and  to  shiver  in  the  cc)ld  during  the  morning  service  in  the 
house  of  worship.  "At  noon  they  returned  to  their  noon 
house,  with  invited  friends,  where  a  warm  room  received, 
them.  The  saddle-bags  were  now  brought  forth  and  their 
contents  discharged  on  the  table,  of  which  all  partook  a 
little."  Then  each  in  turn  drank  from  the  pitcher  or  mugs 
of  cider,  which  had  been  brought  from  the  cellar. 

This  service  being  jx'rfornied  and  thanks  returned,  the 
remaining  time  was  s})ent  in  reading  notes  and  discussing 
the  morning  sermon,  a  cha])ter  from  the  Bible,  or  from 
some  other  book  of  a  religious  character;  not  unfrequently 
])rayer  was  offered  before  retiring  to  the  sanctuary  for  the 
afternoon  worship.  At  the  close  of  the  services  of  the 
afternoon,  if  the  weather  was  scvxTely  cold,  the  family  re- 
turned to  the  noon  house  to  warm  themselves  before  going 
home.  The  fires  were  then  extinguished,  the  saddle-bags 
gathered  up,  the  house  loeked  and  all  returned  to  their 
home.  "One  of  these  houses  still  remains  in  1870,  on  the 
north  side  of  the  (Common  (in  Townscnd,  Mass.),  owned 
and  occupied  by  Miss  Hannah  Seaver."  The  invention 
of  Dr.  Clarke  (stoves jj  p.  22,  Vol.  I.,  came  very  slowly  into 


326 


HISTORY   OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


!|    1 


rr: 


i:l-| 


^m  i' 


use.  In  Rycp^atc,  at  a  meeting  called  on  INfarch  20tli,  1S12, 
the  third  item  of  business  was  "to  see  it'  tlio  proi)rietors 
will  agree  to  have  a  stove  put  u])  in  the  meeting-house." 

The  conscientious  perseverance  ot"  such  persons,  in  order 
to  enjoy  their  gospel  privileges  in  Avinter,  we  can  hardly 
imitate  so  far  as  to  reasonal)ly  appreciate.  Tliey  "endured 
as  seeing  liim  who  is  invisible,"  saying,  "  Lord,  I  have 
loved  the  habitation  of  thy  house." 

J3etween  these  two  towns,  in  the  proportion  above 
named,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Goodwillie,  for  above  twenty  years, 
laljored.  Both  congregations,  with  an  outgrowth  into  the 
town  of  Peachain,  adjoining  on  the  west,  up  till  the  end 
of  this  quarter  of  a  century  (in  1818),  continued  consistent 
with  their  vows.  And  notwithstanding  the  sterility  of  tiie 
soil,  the  ruggedness  of  the  surface  of  the  country  and  their 
long  winters,  as  a  people  they  prospered.  In  common 
with  the  usages  by  wluch  they  were  surrounded,  they 
"voted,  jNIarch  9th,  1813,  that  the  select  men  deed  the 
seats  of  the  meeting-house  to  the  proprietors  thereof." 

Thus  this  Scotch  "  people  dwelt  alone,"  engaged  in  agri- 
cultural i)ursuits,  promoting  education,  sustaining  the 
ordinances  of  religion  ;  sanctifying  the  Sabbath  ;  the  hills 
and  forests  not  unfrequently  resounding  (when  in  prox- 
imity to  "  the  dwellings  of  the  rigliteous  ")  as  the  morning 
and  evening  sacrifice  of  praise  ascended. 

While  the  remaining  exercises  of  family  worship,  viz., 
reading  the  Scriptures  and  prayer,  were  still  general 
throughout  New  England,  the  observer,  standing  on  tiio 
sunnnit  of  Mount  Washington,  on  a  May  morning  or 
summer's  evening,  with  an  ear  cai)able  of  hearing  every 
human  intonation  within  the  bounds,  could  not,  it  is 
probable  (with  one  exception)  listen  to  "  the  voice  of  re- 
joicing and  salvation  in  the  tabernacles  of  the  righteous." 
The  exception  noticed  was  the  Bells  and  others  of  London- 
derry, who,  in  their  generation,  not  finding  the  "imita- 
tions "  suitable  for  promoting  the  glory  of  God  (at  least) 
in  fjimily  worship,  and  viewing  them  as  too  vapid  for 
"godly  edifying,"  continued,  while  health  and  strength 
remained  with  them,  to  use,  in  their  households,  tlic 
Psalms  in  the  Presbyterian  version.*     Beyond  this,  from 

*  In  an  observation  of  nearly  fifty  years,  I  have  found  but  about  twelve 
families,  wh ^  sang  anything  to  God,  as  worshippers,  who  did  not  use  the 
Psalms. 


IN    NEW   ENGLAND. 


327 


.812, 
L'tors 

0." 

ivder 
vv<lly 
lured 
have 

above 
years, 
:o  the 
,e  end 
distent 
of  the 
\  their 
iminon 
1,  they 
■ed  the 
)f." 

in  ajrri- 
ns  the 
he  hills 
In  prox- 
Inorning 

ip,  viz., 
general 
on  the 
Ining  or 
,or  every 
lot,  it  is 
ce  of  rc- 
Ihteous." 
iLondon- 
"imita- 
lat  least) 
japid  for 
strength 
Ads,  the 
lis,  from 

Jpont  twelve 
Inot  use  the 


tho  river  Connecticut  to  the  Bay  of  Fnndy,  "  expressive 
silence"  reigned  in  liunian  hal)itations  at  the  end  of  this 
quarter  of  a  century  in  our  liistor}'  (in  l.SlS). 

The  one  ])atli  or  comieetiii^-  link,  ecclesiastically,  hetwecn 
llu;  former  K?ynod  of  New  England  and  the  now  ISynod  of 
Albany  was  the  Londonderry  Presbytery.  They  a{)i)ear 
to  have  held  stated  semi-annual  meetin<j.s,  inculcated  fien- 
erally  the  teachin^j;  of  tiie  New  En<i'land  Primer,  sup])lied 
vacancies  with  settled  })astors,  and  to  have  maintained 
l>resl)yterial  order,  if  not,  as  alone,  of  Divine  authority,  at 
least  as  the  best  expedient. 

On  October  9th,  1805,  they  ordained  and  installed  ]\Ir. 
Samuel  Harris  in  Windham,  which  church  had  been  then 
vacant  for  twelve  years ;  the  Kev.  Ephraim  Bradford  at 
New  Boston,  on  February  2Gth,  180G;  the  Rev.  John  M. 
A\'hiton,  on  September  26th,  18US,  at  Antrim. 

"In  Mansfield,  Tolland  county,  Conn.,  a  minority  of  the 
church,  together  with  tlie  bulk  of  tho  congregation  under 
the  ministry  of  the  Ivcv.  John  Sherman  (171)7  to  1805), 
went  over  with  him  to  Unitarianism. 

"A  majority  of  the  membership  of  the  church,  however, 
held  on  to  'the  faith,'  and  by  a  formal  vote  changed  their 
ecclesiastical  organization  to  the  Presbyterian  order,  upon 
the  ground  of  its  more  scriptural  character.  This  form  of 
govi'rnment  continued  for  many  years.  The  last  ruling 
elders  were  ordained  in  1833.  Since  their  death  or  re- 
moval, conniiittees  have  occupied  in  their  places,  although 
there  has  never  been  any  direct  vote  of  the  church  to 
return  to  Congregationalism."  (J/.  S.  Inf.  Ecd.  Hist.  Ct., 
pp.  2()0,  419.) 

"To  Presbyterianism,  as  an  expedient,  the  second  church 
in  Cornwall,  Litchfield  county,  Conn.,  came  about  1790,  by 
members  seceding  from  the  first  church,  and  denominating 
themselves  'Strict  Congregationalists,  or  Separatists.'  The 
Rev.  John  Cornwall,  their  pastor,  was  a  member  of  the 
Presbytery  of  ^lorris  County,  N.  J.,  and  united  with  others 
in  1791  in  forming  the  Associated  Westchester  Presbytery. 
The  congregation  continued  its  relation  to  that  Presbytery 
until  the  year  1807,  when  its  dill'erences  with  the  first 
church  were  composed,  and  it  was  dismissed  to  the  North 
Association  of  the  county."  {MS.  Records,  pp.  1,  7,  85  and 
131.)  "This  church  is  now  prosperous."  {^Eccl.  Hist.  Ct.y 
p.  449.) 


-"}  I 


328 


HISTORY   or  PRESBYTERIANISM 


"  The  Presbyterian  concroiratior*  which  liavc  boon  formed 
more  recently  in  Connecticut  hv  mi  composed  larfidv 

ol"  persons  helon^dng  original!'  rcsljyterian  churches 

in  the  Middle  States,  or  hav  .  across  the  sea.     Three 

of  these  have  ceased  to  e  tud  a  fourth  has  joined 

another  ecclesiastical  body. 

In  1809  the  congregation  of  Litchfield  was  organized. 
The  Rev.  Nathaniel  Kennedy  was  settled  there  as  i)asti)r 
on  April  12th,  and  in  1812  he  was  dismissed.  On  So|)teiii- 
ber  28th,  1814,  the  Rev.  Gardner  Perrv  was  ordained  and 
installed  in  Bradford.  On  October  18th,  1818,  the  Rev.  S. 
Taggart  was  dismissed  from  Colcraine.  He  had  been,  even 
•while  pastor,  a  member  of  Congress  for  fourteen  years,  and 
annually  read  the  Bible  through  in  Washington. 

Among  the  "divers  and  strange;  doctrines"  which  have 
captivated  individuals,  "ever  learning  and  never  al)le  to 
come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,"  wearing  the  Pri^sby- 
terian  name,  are  the  reveries  of  Ennnanuel  .Swedcnborg. 
These  a  Mr.  Worcester  began  to  promulgate  in  Boston  in 
1818. 

After  fulfilling  a  faithful  ministry  in  the  west  parish  of 
Londonderry  for  thirty-five  years,  the  Rev.  Wm.  ^Morrison 
died,  on  jNIarch  9th,  1818,  at  the  age  of  seventy.  His  lite 
was  consistent  and  his  death  trium])hant.  The  Rev. 
Solomon  Moore  died  at  New  Boston  on  May  2Sth,  1803. 

The  Rev.  Moses  Baldwin,  who.  as  far  back  as  1774,  was 
instrumental  in  introducing  the  "Imitations"  into  the 
Boston  Presbytery,  had  continued  to  act  as  pastor  in 
Palmer  ever  since,  and  was  dismissed  from  that  town  on 
June  19th,  1811.  As  an  inevitable  conse([U(;nce,  that  con- 
gregation became  forthwith  a  Congi-i'.i;itional  "society," 
carrying  with  it  the  Presbyterian  cliui'cii  property. 

In  1807,  we  find  some  traces  of  the  (irafton  PresbytiTv. 
On  October  29th,  a  committee  of  that  body  licensed  Mr. 
J-Cdward  L.  Parker  to  ])reacli  the  gospel.  His  license  was 
signed  by  John  Wheelock,  John  Smith,  Roswell  Siiurtleif, 
President  and  jH'ofessors  in  Dartmouth  College,  and  the 
Rev.  James  \\'oodward,  of  Norwich. 

The  first  church  in  the  college  continued  to  bo  a  con- 
stituent part  of  said  Presbytery  until  ISIG;  but  the  si)irit 
of  the  times  then  fully  overtook  it.  Congregationalism, 
abandoning  in   many  ])laces   the   absolute  authority  of 


■If I  UN  I'll 


-mcd 

i-ches 
jiued 

ptom- 

(.1   l\U(l 

ivw  S. 
1,  even 
rs,  ami 

ii  liave 
able  to 
Presby- 
enborii;. 
ston  ill 

irisli  of 
lovi'isou 
Iliri  life 
le    llev. 
1803. 
1 4,  was 
.nto  the 
as tor  in 
town  on 


lu 


■;() 


cietv 


,>sbvtovy 


1)0  a  con- 


ional 


IN   NEW  ENGLAND. 


329 


Divine  revelation  for  metaphysical  tastes  and  human  opin- 
ion, now  with  iucrrasin^  vitality  controlled  ecclesiastical 
and  educational  niatU'r.s  in  tlie  land.  It  must  now  control 
this  cliurch  of  the  colle;,^'.  This  was  Ibr  a  tinie  resisted, 
and  brouuht  on  a  hitter  strife,  and,  in  1817,  those  who 
were  "\<iiven  to  change''  were  successful  in  contr(»!hng  both 
the  church  and  the  college,  llenceiorth  both  the  sub- 
stance and  the  honor  of  Presbyterianisni  there  were  assim- 
ilated by  the  New  England  church  polity. 

Annually  the  s[)oliation  of  Presbyterian  church  prop- 
erty became  more  connuon.  Thus,  in  18U'J,  the  Congrega- 
tional dissentionists,  after  a  separation  of  twelve  years, 
became  ''united  to  the  Presl)yterian  society,  and  by  an  act 
of  the  Legislature  were  incorporated  as  Tiie  D'r.^t  Parish  of 
Londondcrri/."'  In  this  "coalescence"  a  union  occurred, 
and  a  suitable  incumbent  W'as  soon  found.  Mr.  Kdward 
L.  Parker  was,  on  Septeml)er  I'itli,  1810,  ordained,  not  by 
the  Presbytery,  but  by  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Abishai  Alden,  of 
jMontville,  Conn.;  Samuel  Worcester,  \).  1).,  of  Salem; 
Rev.  .Samuel  Woods,  I).  D.,  of  Jioscawen;  the  Rev.  Wm. 
Morrison,  of  Londonderry ;  the  Rev.  Daniel  Dana,  D.  D., 
of  Xewburyport;  Rev.  Jas.  Miltimoro,  of  Xewl)ury;  and 
the  Rev.  Jno.  Codnian,  D.  D.,  of  Dorchester — a  kind  of 
half-way  arrangement,  not  under  the  Synod  of  Albany. 

Thus,  at  the  end  of  ninety-one  years,  the  old  mother 
church  of  "' the  oppressed  Irish  brethren"  had  only  one 
life  annuity  of  the  name  Presljyterian,  of  her  live  acres  of 
land,  of  her  parsonage,  burying  ground,  sacred  with  the 
dust  of  hve  generations  of  pastors  and  people,  her  town 
h.all,  her  nine  thousand  dollars  of  the  Pinkerton  fund,  her 
church  edifiee,  and  now  she  was  deprived  of 

"Tliose  strains  that  once  did  sweet  in  Zion  glide." 

This  mother  of  churches  had  now  settled  her  last  nom- 
inal Presbytcri;ni  pastor ;  but  the  vital  momentum  i)re- 
viously  given  to  lun*  it  took  forty  years  to  counteract, 
1)i'fore  she  could  l)e  shuntetl  otf  on  the  gauge  of  Congrega- 
tionalism. 

In  this  (piartor  of  a  century  a  new  form  of  Congrega- 
tional opi)osition  to  Presbyterianisni  in  New  England  was 
developed.  The  germ  had  been  budding  for  above  fifty 
^ears,  yet  "  up  to  the  year  1810,  no  party  cspousinj;  Uni- 


330 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTEIilAMSM 


ll 


I! 


tarianism  had  been  publicly  and  o]ionly  formed,  but  now 
the  cxistoncc  and  ]»revalenc(.'  of  this  oi)inion  in  Boston 
could  not  bo  nuu'.h  lonjj;c'r  concfak'd.  Its  ojx.Tations  wcru 
for  the  nio.st  part  secret,  for  tlie  pulpit  Wiis  silent  until 
"1815,  when  a  full  and  unecjuivocal  development  wa.s 
made,"  {Hark.) 

A  low  .state  of  religion  and  morals  existed,  especially  in 
Massachusetts,  from  1775  till  17'**.),  and  the  change  (hen 
•yvas  only  I'rom  bad  to  worse.  Preachers  began  to  doubt 
whether  there  was  any  Holy  Clhost,  or  that  Ciod  the  f^on 
existed;  and  as  "an  Athenian  democracy  was  from  the 
first  in  the  mould  of  their  civil  government,"  so,  in  1811, 
the  civil  law  gave  the  ])arish  full  ])ower  to  counteract,  or 
rather  to  rule,  the  church.  Still,  tlu-  church  was  enamoured 
with  her  polity,  even  when  she  saw  '"the  enemy  coming  in 
like  a  flood,"  and  was  for  her  life  forced  to  secede  from  the 
parish.  Thirteen  out  of  the  thirty-nine  churches  whoso 
delegates,  in  1(548,  formed  the  Cand)ridge  i)latrorm  and 
declared  the  system  to  be  "sulliciently  divine,"  about  this 
j)eriod  renounced  that  faith,  and  of  the  one  hundred  and 
fc;ixty-four  I'nitarian  societies  in  the  State,  ninety  of  them 
were  once  Trinitarian,  and  in  all  cases  took  Avith.them  the 
})a.rish  pro])erty.  In  all  such  cases  our  courts  of  law  per- 
sist in  declaring  the  residuum,  when  the  Trinitarians 
eecede,  to  be  the  original  church — a  declaration  which 
connuon  sense,  to  say  nothing  of  common  honesty,  persists 
in  denying. 

As  the  coml)ination  exists  on  negations  of  the  super- 
natural in  Divine  revelation,  it  is  diflicult  to  group  their 
sectarian  oj)inions ;  but  in  the  fifty  years  succeeding  1810, 
they  j)rofess  to  have  collected  the  '"  ])rincij)les  and  doc- 
trines "  of  tlieir  association,  and  in  4th  series,  No.  17,  wo 
luive  these  set  forth.  Some  of  the  first,  such  as  "  the  right 
of  private  judgment,"  they  hold  in  common  with  Protestant 
Trinitarians.  In  ''  doctrines  "  they  have  no  authoritative 
creed — these  "  nm.st  bo  gathered  from  their  leading  writers 
and  from  a  general  acquaintance  with  the  men  and  women 
of  the  body"  (p.  9).  "They  l)clieve  in  the  exigence  of 
God,  a  creator,  a  jii.st  one,  vho  rclcs  the  irorld  hi/  hnrs  as  a 
loving  and  tender  FatJier.  They  believe  with  Trinitarians 
?ft  his  unity,  and  as  to  man,  he  is  the  head  of  the  orderly  sys- 
tem of  organic  creations,  he  has  a  sold.     On  this  fact  they  are 


IN   NEW   ENGLAND. 


331 


now 

ostou 

wen; 

iiulil 

i    NVUS 

illy  in 

;  i\\vn 

doubt 

;e  Son 

ni  tlie 

1  1811, 

•act,  or 

n  cured 

iiing  in 

on\  the 
whoso 

■m  and 

)iit  this 

•ed  and 

:)l'  tlu'm 

iicm  the 
w  pcr- 
larians 
Avliieh 
icrsists 

snper- 
in>  their 
1810, 
nd  tloc- 
,  17,  wo 
le  right 
otestant 
oritative 
.•  writers 
women 
M^tencc  of 
iir.i  as  a 
litarians 
Jcrly  sys- 
they  are 


generally  arjrccd.  This  gives  a  diynity  to  liim  wliicli  is  a 
poMibillty  of  the  whole  hunutii  nice.  They  hdvc  no  doynui 
lOxjiit  tJie  Ilr4  In  ii'in.  jxtlr.  or  th(>  first  creation  of  the  race — 
where  it  was,  in  Asia  or  Ainorica;  when  it  was,  (»,()l»()  years 
ago  or  000,000  years  ago;  in  one  pair  or  one  hun<h'e(l  pairs; 
or  by  development  iVoni  lower  races;  yet  they  believe  that 
the  race  is  an  unity,  and  that  all  njen  aru  s[)iritually  chil- 
dren of  God. 

"They  believe  also  in  the  acliud  imjn'rfeetlon  of  men,  but 
not  in  any  transaction  between  God  and  man  in  the  matter 
ot"  salvation.  A  man  is  saved  in  the  spiritual  world  as  ho 
is  in  the  natural  world — by  obedience  to  the  laws  of  his 
being."  "'Unitarians  believe,  too,  that  heathen  religions 
have  saving  (pialities  as  well  as  the  Chri-^tinn  reliyion — that 
the  Chinese  are  saved  from  sin  by  the  teachings  of  Gonlii- 
cius,  and  the  Persians  by  the  teachings  of  Zoroaster;  yet 
the  broadest  and  most  spiritual  religion  is  that  which  holds 
the  name  of  Christ  (p.  18).  Christ  saves  men  "  ^say  they) 
"by  his  tr.dchiity,  cctinple,  the  spirit  of  his  vork,  ]]]y^  Jortitude 
in  siilferin;/,  and  as  he  shows  the  life  of  a  Divine  many 
"Men  are  not  saved  by  his  miraculous  birth,  or  by  his 
miraculous  de:ith,  or  by  anything  in  his  history  that  is 
ajKU't  from  i)ractical  adtiptation  to  the  human  soul." 
"They  arc  saved  by  the  Christianity  which  has  yoi  into  the 
customs  of  society,  which  has  been  fixed  in  tiie  statutes  and 
laws,  which  has  entered  into  the  relations  of  life,  of  ))usi- 
ness,  of  the  State,  or  of  the  church  "  (p.  ID).  They  have 
also  "  various  views  of  the  nature  and  being  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth,  such  as  his  being  dillercnt  by  constitution  from 
all  other  men,  with  no  human  father,  or  that  he  was  the 
son  of  Joseph,  or  that  he  lived  in  an  angelic  state  before 
he  was  born,  or  that  he  had  no  more  pre-existence  than 
any  other  man." 

'"Some  think  that  his  rising  from  the  dead  was  in  the 
flesh  in  which  he  died  ;  others  think  it  was  a  spirit  whicli 
api)cared  in  the  form  of  a  man  ;  and  they  all  find  this  sulli- 
cient  Avithout  any  scheme  or  contrivance  by  which  God 
has  to  appease  his  own  wrath  in  the  slaughter  of  an  inno- 
cent person  for  the  sins  of  a  guilty  world."  "Unitarians 
have  no  doctrine  in  regard  to  rewards  and  jnmishments 
in  the  future  life  separate  from  their  general  doctrine  of 
law  axid  its  violations.    They  believe  that  the  spiritual 


332 


IIISTOUY   OF   rUKSnYTERIAMSM 


II 


ponnlty  of  sin  will  ondnro  ns  lon<;  ns  tho  sin  Insts  and  until 
jt  liiis  wroiiL^it  its  ilui'  iind  needful  relornuition,  yet  it  is 
tho  Lord's  will  that  not  one  of  his  rational  creatures  should 
utti'rly  and  forevci'  ])erish." 

T\\v.  reader  may  thus  see  that  this  nio()idi;_dit  of  Chris- 
tianity, tlieso  "cunniuLdv  devised  fahles,'  must  strenf-dhtu 
the  other  Conp'etiational  sects  as  aL^ainst  Preshyterianisni 
in  New  lOnjiland,  when  now  their  we;iltii  and  culture  ele- 
vate them  to  the  liighest  plane  of  modern  sentimentid 
civilization. 


\' 


IN   NEW   ENGLAND. 


333 


CHAPTER  XriT. 


1S18-1843 — History  here  lianl  lo  write — f'<>np;rop;:ition.il  antaponism  re- 
inforced liy  |K)i)ery — Al)l)e  In  I'oilre  (iuvirii!- — I'rsuliiies,  tlieir  iiiin- 
iicry — .Swe(ieiili(»rj.Maiusiii  —  Naliinii  i'arUer,  .liis.  Melletl<,'e,  Kev.  Jas. 
iSaltine — The  deacon  included — I'niitn  Clnnrli — Tlif  Loudnndernj  Pren- 
bijtenj — ('iiiircii  Street  IJniircli — Hrazeii  shields — lint  little  cotninereial 
expansion  yet  in  Hoston — A  pastoral  letter — A  more  powertnl  sei't — 
Mixed  np  with  them — Suhdned — An  infatuation — Ciphers — ['reserved 
in  standing — The  proprietors — Duty  pljtin — Episcopal — Advice — The 
too  coMJinon  apathy — Ready  to  change — Naturally  drawn  to  his  bene- 
factors— "Took  orders" — Under  the  Synod  of  Alhany — No  assistance 
alliinled  to  the  proprietors — House  sold  —  Accessions — Presbytery  of 
Newburyport  formed — Six  churches — And  twelve  ministers — For  a 
Reason — Kev.  Styles  Ely  quoted — The  fruits  of  expediency — A  con- 
ventional agreement  in  l^Ol — Dig.,  p.  oTo — A  substitute — This  breed 
— Protests — Honeycoiiroed — This  plausible  scheme — With  increasing 
readiness — Dana — Williams — The  new  I'resbytery  j>robably  niost 
heterodox — "  I'lan  of  uidon  " — Assembly  of  ISIi? — The  nu)ther  Pres- 
bvterv  dt  cided — The  new  one  dissolved — Rarnet  and  Kyegate  stead- 
fast—Rev. Wm.  (Jibsou— Rev.  Jas.  Milligan— Rev.  J.  IM.  Beattie— 
Topsham — Craftsbiiry— A  division  on  the  elective  franchise — Eflect 
felt  in  Ryegate — Rev.  I)  (Joodwillie  in  Bariiet — His  son  Thomas — 
Rev.  Thos.  Ferrier  in  Ryegate — Presbytery  of  Cambridge,  N.  Y. — 
Wm.  Pringle — Said  Presbytery  rent  by  faction  in  1840 — Rev.  James 
Mc.\rthur  settled — Associate  Presbytery  of  Vermont  constituted  in 
1810 — How  was  it  that  these  churches  prospered,  while  others  con- 
tinued merely  to  exist? — Answered — To  supply  vacancies  recpiired 
much  toil — The  demand  was  met — Mrs.  (iray's  statement — John 
Pinkerton,  Esq.,  of  Londonderry,  wise  directions — His  tombstone  and 
its  contract — The  society  of  Derry  lower  village — Dr.  Morrison  suc- 
ceeded by  Dr.  Dana — Hayes — Adams — Town  meetings  opened  with 
prayer — Brainard  pastor — Ltmdonderry  East,  by  enactment  in  1827, 
called  Derry — Rev.  E.  L.  Parker  there — His  forte — His  advantages — 
Efliciency  of  his  church — Youth  the  seed-time  of  life  with  him — For 
them  his  early  working  plans — His  other  forms  of  labor  comprehen- 
sive— First  temperance  and  Sabbath-school  in  the  State  led  by  him  in 
Derry — Mrs.  Agnes  Wilson's  refusal — The  contract  impaire<l — Her 
mortification — Four  occupants — She  witnessed  two  revolutions- 
Changes  in  Newburyport — Mr.  Milton  continued  "fencing'' — He 
adopted  Murray's  course — Arminians,  etc.,  etc. — Potent,  though  now 
barbaric — Dr.  Proudtit — Efficiency  of  the  means  of  grace  under  him — 


1    I 


m 

1 

" 


HISTORY    OF    I'UESnYTKIlIAMSM 

A  four  davvs'  mectini]j  in  Milton's  churcli — Ntim])ors  nnitod — Tvoaotion 
— TwoMty-niiK!  iiskfd  (iisiuissions,  l)Ul  could  not  t'orin  a  cluircli — Tlio 
nu'»'tinj;-liousi'  ra/ird — Tlu'  rrypt  of  Wliiti'luld — His  arm  lionc  |)iir- 
loincd— A  whispi'rini;  pdlcry — l>r.  I'.'s  last  (■(unmiminn  in  1S:1"J  - 
His  di'|i;irtnrc'  ludiapiu'  -Many  (aiididati's — luvoiiitioiiists  liindcivd 
by  tlu'  I'ri'shylfrian  civil  oruaruzation — One  or  two  calls — TKc  ctlcr- 
vcsoi'iicc — Stearns  settled — IVace  and  i;(>od  success — lied i'onl  and  I). 
Mel  Ircf^or— lU'dt'ord  less  carried  away  willi  winds  of  doctrine — Kev. 
'I'll OS.  Savage  there  in  IS'Jli — (^uite  ecpial  to  others — Antrim — Tlie 
Ivev.  J.  M.  Wiiiton — Twelve  rnlinj,'  elders— A  sncccssfid  niinisiry — 
lMi7 — Windham— Harris— ("alvin  Cutler — The  days  of  sorrow  in 
IVterboro— They  observed  the  Lord's  Supper  as  I'resbyterians  once 
annually — In  lS2"_'aparl  wire  fornu'd  into  a  I'resbyterian  chin-ch  — 
I'eter  Holt — Mr.  Pini — Joshua  Harrttt — Jas.  K.  i'rencii-  In  twcniy 
years  three  pa.^lors — A  due  appreciation  necessary  —  I^ondonderry — 
Four  calls  voted — Dr.  Dana — His  sahiry — First  disinis>;d  there  in 
nearly  a  century — i)ana  soon  pastor  in  the  Second  (  hiui'h  in  New- 
bnryport — Its  history  noticed — Calls  not  unanimous  in  LondoiuKrry — 
A.  A.  Hayes  onlaincd  by  three  of  each  kind  .1.  K.  .\dams  ordiiincd 
by  four  and  three — The  odice  of  rulin;;;  elder  maintained,  with  the 
name — Common  sense— Kev.  Mr.  .\dams — His  marriai,'e  displeased 
l)is  people,  and  he  resiy;ne<l  in  si.v  years  ~ '1'.  (i.  llrainaitl  pastor  in 
1810 — I'resbyterianism  in  New  l-lnuland  only  alxiut  live  psalm>ini,'int,' 
churches  and  about  ten  others — Conj,'ref^ationalism  now  at  ease  — l.pis- 
copalianism  and  Methodism  now  increa.sing,  and  Toiiery  liad  now 
three  chapeLs  in  Boston. 

The  history  of  lliis  poriod  it  is  dinieuU  to  write.  The 
(latM  are  lew  and  tlie  material  is  setinty,  as  tiie  reeords  of 
Ijondonderry  l*resl)ytery  are  lost.  Not  only  so,  l»iit  in  lios- 
toi),  where,  as  a  local  oruaiii/atioii,  it  had  l>y  spoliation,  in 
1~S(\,  ceased  to  e.xist,  it  now.  when  revived,  nu't  ('on^rei:a- 
tiontil  antaironisni  reinforced  hy  l*o))ery.  The  nuiss,  heads, 
orirans.  caudles,  chrism,  m;in-millinery,  holy  water,  and 
extreme  unction,  were  introduced  in  17SS,  or  hefore,  ami 
(luring  this  period  of  Unitarian  ])rotoplasm  amono;  the 
Con^rcL^tiliona lists,  I'riest  C'heverus,  from  l^'rance,  htid, 
id'ter  IT'.H),  made  an  incriMsinuly  favorahle  impri'ssion 
Uj)on  the  descendants  (tf  the  I'ln'itans.  Ills  predecessors 
Jiad  hou^ht  from  Mr.  Croswi'lls  C\)n,i;re<xalionalist  sot'iety 
the  French  I'reshytcrian  meetin<ji;du)iise  in  School  street, 
and  had  oceu))ied  it  as  a  mass-houso  lor  yetirs. 

As  converts  were  ninltiplii'd  and  munhers  increased,  so 
"sisters"  were  "led  ahout,''  ut  least  to  "^Miidu  tlu'  house" 
(1  Tim.  V.  14).  Aeeor(lino;ly,  in  June,  1S20,  nuns  of  the 
Ursuliue  order  were  planted  in  Boston  uud  vieinity.    They 


IN    NFAV   ENGLAND. 


^action 
I— riio 
10  luir- 

is:;-i- 

ndcrcil 

:uul  l>. 
.— Krv. 

.1— 'n.o 

\isti\v  — 
row    in 
jis  oiU'c 
Inirili — 
l\vei\ly 
idi'l'i'V — 
lliiTO  in 
in   Niw- 
niirry — 
iinlaiiH'il 
willi   llu* 
ispU'asctl 
|>;istoi-  in 
u>ini:int,' 
se— I'-l'is- 
hiiil  now 


..    The 

ords  »)t' 
ill  1h)s- 
tion,  in 

[;,  ln'iuls, 
(•i\  and 
)\\\  and 
)i\<j;  tlu' 
'(',  liad, 
•n'ssion 

|l  stri'ct, 
ascd,  i^t> 

1U)US0" 

of  tlu' 
They 


brouglit  a  fow  new  "notions"  in  tho  lino  (/f  instruction  for 
youn;:;  women  into  the  once  Pui'itan  nielrtipolis,  and  evcMit- 
uallv  established  tlieir  nunneiv  at  Sonierville,  ^hlssllchu- 
setts. 

There  they  j^nnv,  and   in   IS.'vt   (says   J)"Arey  Me(!eo), 
"rumors  were  eireulated  of  ;i  vounti  ladv  beinu-  innnurecl 


in   ;i  dumieon   of  the   I'onvent. 


On    Auuust    KHh,  the 


iiev.  Dr.  lU'eeher  preached  in  thrin-  ditlert>nt  churche.s 
a.^ainst  the  institution,"  and  "  on  Monday,  the  11th,  tar- 
barrels  were  lighted  near  the  house  hy  u  i;roup  of  ineendi- 
arii'S,    who    were    joined    by    a    tumultuous    crowd    from 


Charlestown  and  Hoston. 


Ten  adults  and  sixtv  female 


children  were  within,  and   the  female  who  had  biH'U  tho 
immediate  cause  of  the  exciti'Uient  was,  bv  the  anitatiou 


of  the  nitfht,  in  a  ravinir  delirium. 


Alter  the  iirst  attack 


the  assailants  paused  a  while,  and  the  uoverness  was  ena- 
bled to  seeure  the  retreat  of  her  little  tlock  anil  sisters  into 
{hv  ii;arden." 

Soon  after  1  a.  m.,  on  the  12th,  "tlu;  torch  was  a|)plied 
to  the  convent,  the  bishop's  lodu'c.  to  the  farndiouse  for- 
miM'ly  occupied  as  tlu;  I'onvent,  and  to  the  extensive  barn, 
and  tlu!  four  buildinys  were  reduced  tt)  ashes/'  These 
two  systems  of  church  polity — I'relacy  and  ('on«j;rej^ation- 
alism — wi're  now  in  this  ease  ))itteil  airainst  each  other. 
The  scene  was  unjustiliable,  eriminal,  and  disiiraceful  on 
the  j)art  of  the  invaders,  while  it  Ibrmed  a  leeble  echo  of 
the  demonstration  made  a<:ainst  the  Presbyterians  in  I'arii^ 
km  August  L'ltli,  IoTl'.      Here  extremes  met. 

in  ISIS,  the  Ibrces  op])osin^  I'reshylerianism  in  Boston 
/ere  furnished  with  a  new  t'on,Lrre<j;ationalist  recruit.  The 
)»anner  of  the  Swedish  bart)n — who,  under  the  name  of  a 
Lutheran,  lauuht  that "  the  last  judirnient  took  place  in  tho 
spiritual  world  in  a.  n.  17')",  who  denied  the  doctrine  of 
tli(^  atonemi'nt  of  Christ,  or  vii-arious  sacriliee,  together 
with  justilieation  by  faith  alone,  the  resurrection  of  tho 
luati'rial  Inxly,  predestination,  tte.,  etc."' — was  by  one  of 
his  followers — Mr.  Worcester — unfurled  in  that  town. 

\\\'  now  revert  to  rresbyterianism.  For  many  years 
]irevious  to  the  war  of  lSl'2-1!,  a  Mr.  Nathan  Parker,  a 
native  of  Maiden,  Mass.,  did  luisiness  in  Newtbundland, 
Nvliere  he  and  a  Mr.  James  MelKduc  a  nalivi'  of  IU)ston, 
together,  erected  a  houae  of  worshi]>  fur  "the  first  Calvinist 


AV 


336 


HISTORY   OF    PRKSBYTEUIANISM 


cliurch  in  St.  Jolins."  Returning!;  to  Mnspnchiipott?!  in 
1818,  and  bcinjjj  uttaclicd  to  the  Rev.  Jiunes  Subinc,  of  th;it 
town,  an  Intlejx'ndent  Ironi  Kn;il;nid,  \\v  ])er.<Uiitled  him  to 
relinquish  a  large  balance  ot"  overdue  salary  (said  to  b(> 
alcove  £800)  and  come  to  ^(jston  lo  continue  to  be  his 
pastor. 

Mr.  Parker  at  this  time,  althoncih  a  deacon  in  Park 
Street  Church,  thought  that  a  third  orthodox  (or  Trini- 
tarian (!ongrcgationalist)  society  was  reijuired  in  the  town, 
and  to  the  erection  of  a  meeting-house  on  Essex  street  ho 
contril)uted  thirty-three  thousand  dollars.  "  In  January, 
181t),  a  Congregational  church  was  gathered  in  Boylston 
Hidl,  under  the  ])astoral  care  of  Mr.  Sal»ine,  who  had  ar- 
rived in  the  })revious  July,  and  tin'  house  was  dedicated 
in  December  Ibllowing.  Here,  within  two  years,  the  power 
of  the  popular  church  ])olity  became  increasingly  mani- 
fested. The  deacon  being  the  controlling  force,  having 
"loved  the  nation  and  (virtually)  built  the  synagogue"  (as 
it  was  said),  founc'  he  had  not  the  right  man  to  "fill  the 
pews."  "  DiHicultics  resulted  in  the  witlxlrawal  of  the 
})astor  with  the  church,  as  a  body,  to  Jioylstou  Hall."  ''A 
minority"  of  pew-lu»lders  (the  tleacon  included)  "con- 
tinued to  worshij)  in  the  Essex  street  me(>ting-house,  the 
premises  being  chieily  their  own  property." 

Mr.  Parker  was  left  extensively  "  alone  in  bis  glory," 
Avhile  the  church  were  too  poor,  as  yet,  to  build  another 
edilice  for  that  persuasion,  which  now  was  obviously  un- 
necessary in  the  city. 

On  March  28th,  18:22,  the  deacons,  Parker  and  Mellcdge, 
with  three  other  male  and  tivt^  female  niendters,  were,  on 
their  own  "request,  dismissed  from  the  church  in  Boylston 
Hall,"  and  on  June  10th,  with  one  from  Braintree,  three 
from  the  Old  South  and  nine  from  Park  Street,  beside  two 
from  Halifax,  ^lass.,  they  were,  l)y  an  ecclesiastical  coun- 
cil, organized  as  the  Uinon  Church.  Sabine,  although  a 
moderate  Calvinist,  was  not  yet  acfiuainted  with  Presby- 
terianism.  Being  left  with  his  "  society  "  severely  alone, 
and  having  the  whole  continent  from  which  to  choose  as- 
sociation, they  sought  fellowship  with  the  Eondonderry 
Presbytery,  and  were  l)y  that  court  organized  as  a  ehureli 
on  November  2.')d,  182o.  Thus,  after  a  jxriod  of  tliirty- 
seveii  years,  this  church  polity  liud  again  a  recognized  ex- 


•wr 


IN   NEW   ENGl.AND. 


837 


lory, 
lotber 


■VC,  oil 


lie  two 
coun- 

>rrsl)y- 

;ilono, 

lose  ns- 


Itbirty- 
ted  ex- 


istence in  Boston.  Xot  a  little  friction  attended  their 
operations,  when  they  attomptetl  to  transmute  the  species, 
or  rather  |)roduce  "a  Itreed.''  Those  who  had  previously 
been  deacons  did  not  id  ways  exactly  till,  even  when  elected 
and  ordained,  the  office  of  rulin<j;  elders.  Yet,  having  no 
sympathy  from  those  whom  they  had  left,  they  for  some 
years  worked  hard.  In  1S'J5  the  congregation  obtained  an 
incor|)oration  ;  and,  encouraged  witii  hope,  they,  on  a  lot 
which  had  been  deeded  to  them  as  Presbyterians  on  July 
29th,  1825,  on  July  4th,  1827.  laid  the  corner-stone  of  a 
church  edifice.  As  the  building  was  erected  on  a  new 
site,  then  only  partially  reelaimed  from  the  tide,  the  street 
Avas  called  Church  street.  To  buy  land,  erect  an  edifice 
and  support  ordinances,  imposed  on  them  a  heavy  bur- 
den, as  they  were  all  comparatively  i)Oor. 

This  was  not  all ;  they  were  one  in  name,  but  not  so  in 
race,  nor  in  early  Christian  education,  nor  i)erchance  in 
doctrine.  In  the  offering  of  praise,  the}'  conformed  to 
their  surroundings.  Hence,  when  worshippers  came  to 
tiicm  from  British  Presl)yterian  churches  and  found  only 
the  imitations,  instead  of  their  ''gnarled"  version;  in 
short,  finding  only  Congregational  usag(>s  in  worship,  the 
brazen  sldcids  of  lichoboam  instead  of  the  golden  ones  of 
Solomon,  Avhile  more  brilliant  men  occupied  the  pulpits 
of  tiie  Old  ^South,  Park  .Street  and  Essex  Street  meeting- 
hf)uses,  they  would  not  do  lionor  to  the  mere  name. 
^\'hile  by  the  force  of  circumstances  Mr.  Sabine  and  his 
people  became  Presbyterians,  they  were  not  only  opposed 
by  the  orthodox,  but  at  least  partly  "chilled  off"  by  the 
Presbytery.  This  we  see  set  forth  not  only  in  his  "Eccle- 
siastical M(>moirs  of  Essex  Street  Religious  Society,"  but 
from  his  correspondence. 
On  March  l.s'th.  1825,  he  wrote  to  the  Rev.  E.  L.  Parker: 
"The  troubles  of  my  peoph^  arose  from  their  former  con- 
nection. A  meeting  and  sitting  was  institute<l  by  Presby- 
tery. Essex  Street  Church  (that  is,  his  own)  met  it,  and 
they  were  admittt'(l  honorably.  They  then  expected  fel- 
lowship with  the  Presbyteriaji  Ciau'eh  as  often  as  oppor- 
tunity might  oceiu',  but  tiiis  is  noi  the  case.  A  Itrotlier 
l)resbyter  told  me  next  day  tliat  he  'lid  all  in  his  power  to 
]»revent  our  admission;  still,  he  said  our  adnnssion  was 
orderly  and  complete.     We  are  led  to  suspect  that  there  is 

99 


■':!  I 


838 


HISTORY  OP  PRESBYTERIANISM 


'J  i 


Hi 


something  out  of  order,  or  out  of  the  spirit  of  it.  Many  a 
ministerin*^  brotlior  conies  and  goes,  and  though  we  are 
lying  wounded  and  bloody,  robbed  and  maimed,  as  left  by 
our  enemies,  they  ])ass  by  on  tlie  other  side.  Professor 
Hodge,  from  Priut^eton,  last  June,  while  I  was  from  home, 
■was  applied  to  l)y  our  session  for  a  sermon,  as  the  pul])it 
was  unsupplied.  He  objected,  and  finally  refused,  saying, 
that  our  'admission  to  Presbytery  was  not  to  him  ([uite 
clear.'  This  want  of  order,  if  it  be  so,  is  declared  at  length 
by  Synod,  and  a  copy  given  to  me  last  October.  Our 
opposers  insinuate  that  wo  will  be  rejected  and  cast  out 
before  long. 

"Do  you  know  anything  about  this?  You,  as  clerk,  can 
see  manv  thin<2;s  I  cannot.  All  1  want  of  vou  is  to  tell 
me  all  you  know  of  this  matter,  not  ollicially,  but  as  a 
brother.  An  expose  of  this  deep-laid  plot  will  save  me, 
yourself  and  the  Presbytery  a  ileal  of  trouble.  St)  con- 
scious am  I  of  deserving  all  awarded  to  nie  ibr  damage, 
service  and  sacrifice  in  the  result  of  ("ouneil,  in  1S22,  that 
I  am  afraid  to  see  no  man,  and  am  wilHng  to  stand  at  any 
trilnmal  of  the  Presbyterian  CTiurch;  but,  to  be  stabbed  in 
secret  and  privately  buried  as  a  malefactor,  I  have  no 
mind,  but  I  will,  if  I  can,  expose  their  agents. 

"The  honor  and  si)read  of  religion  are  de(>[)ly  interested 
in  the  ex[)osure  of  such  num  as  Drs.  Oodman  and  Woods. 
None  of  my  troubles  or  of  the  ciiurch  were  by  me,  or 
them,  entailed  on  the  Presbytery;  we  are  guiltless.  Yet  1 
trust  a  way  will  be  found  out  in  Avhich  they  can  clear 
themselves.  You  may  siiew  this  letter  to  our  moderator, 
if  you  pledge  me  that  no  advice  or  intimation  of  matter  in 
this  passes  over  the  limits  of  our  body.  To  this  1  hold 
you  ])ledged.  T  should  hav(^  st;ited  al)ove  that  Brother 
Williams,  of  Salem,  and  Profiler  Parker,  of  Chester,  have 
exchanged  with  me,  but  there  ends,  thus  far,  all  inter- 
course with  the  Presbyterian  body.  Tlie  distance  of  most 
of  the  churches  is  a  bar,  others  are  willing,  if  opportunity 
were  favorable,  but  the  i)ulpits  of  our  opposers  have  been 
decidedly  preferred  and  ours  totally  neglected. 

"  Jamks  Sabine." 


This  statement  gives  to  us  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  case, 
and  upon  it  we  need  not  dwell.    There  was  as  yet  but 


IN    NEW    ENGLAND. 


839 


y  a 
ure 
by 

Lll>it 
■ii>;j, 

Our 

L  out 

c,  can 
0  tell 
,  us  u 
•e  mo, 
)  cou- 
iniaixo, 
2,  Unit 
at  any 

ive  no 

,V(K)(ll^. 

me,  or 
Yet  1 
n  eleur 
Aerator, 
alter  in 
1  \\oV\ 
iBrotlH^r 
"V,  have 
1  iuter- 
of  most 
rtunity 
live 


been 


IbiNK. 

Ithc  case, 
yet  but 


little  of  commercial  expansion  in  Boston  to  attract  foreicrn 
rresbyteriaiis,  and  to  obtain  an  inercasc  of  numbers  from 
tlu'ir  surroundings,  anndst  intense  oi»})osition,  was  exten- 
sively im])ossible. 


Under  tlieir  trials  "tlic  love  of"  some  "waxed  cold. 


•\v 


hi] 


0  onlv  1)V  11  similar  erueial   test  can   the  worrv  and 


"trembHu*:  of  heart  Ibr  tlie  ark  of  (lod,"  which  the  pastor 
experienced  for  years,  he  known,  for  ''  the  heart  knoweth 
his  own  bitterness,"  This,  for  even  a  few  years,  he  was 
unable  to  endure. 

Hence  "a  jiastoral  letter  was  addressed  to  the  congre- 
gation in  ]March,  1827,  stating  tlieir  history  as  a  people 
gatiiered  out  of  the  wide  world  under  ])eeuliar  circum- 
stances," But,  as  "no  notice,  either  good  or  load,  had  l)ecn 
taken  of  it  ft)r  two  yi>ars,  and  as  he  did  not  know  wlu^ther 
it  wrought  any  spiritual  benefit  to  them  or  otherwise,"  so, 
in  April,  182!),  he  again  "stirs  up  their  (inactive,  if  not) 
pure  minds,  by  way  of  rememl)rance."  At"ter  stating  that 
he  was  ''crossed  and  disajipointed,"  because  in  comj)etitioii 
with  more  inlluential  sects,  in  providing  the  ordinances  of 
religion  lor  the  in(!reasing  population  of  our  city,  he  and 
they  had  been  unsuccessful,  until  he  was  "  overwhelmed 
with  despondency,"  he  says:  "The  ecclesiastical  de- 
nomination to  which  we  belong  is  so  subihuMl  b}'  another 
and  more  powerful  sect,  and  so  mix(Ml  np  with  them,  that 
no  hope  remains  of  rei)lenisliing  our  Society  from  their 
nuniliers."  This  unfolds  exactly  the  relative  position  of 
Preshyterianism  east  of  the  Connecticut  river,  or  rather  in 
all  New  England,  from  generation  to  generation.  It  is 
"subdued  by  and  uiixed  up  with"  Congregationalists. 

By  this  stibduing  and  mixing,  "the  truth,  as  it  is  in 
Jesus,"  invariably  "gains"  much  "harm  and  loss,"  while, 
so  i)owerful  is  the  infatuation,  wherever  modern  charity 
prevails,  that  to  see  it,  reipiires  an  absolute  belief  in  plen- 
ary ins[)iration.  j\Ir.  Sal)ine  continues:  "lie  expected,  as 
was  natural,  that  what  was  lacking  on  ilw  part  of  his  peo- 
))le,  owing  to  the  sniallncss  of  their  numbers  and  tlu-  de- 
l»resst-d  state  of  their  means,  would  be,  in  some  measure, 
supplied  by  the  sympathy  and  benevolence  of  abler 
churches  in  our  own  body,  or  their  rules  and  ordinances 
are  mere  cyphers,  only  calculated  to  make  up  an  appear- 
ance, where  the  reality  is  wanting.      (Such  complicated 


I 


[Ifi. 


lb' 

i 


i  I 


u 


^40 


HISTORY   OF  PRESBYTERIANISJI 


trials,  so  lonpj  borne,  have  at  lengtli  prostrated  my  hcaltli 
and  reduced  me  to  a  state  of  (lepression  truly  afflictive, 
from  which  nothing  but  a  change  ot"  condition,  with  tlie 
blessing  of  God,  ciin  deliver  me."  He  then  states  tliut 
"friendshij)  raised  u\)  in  a  circle  beyond  the  bounds  of  his 
own  society,  had  ])reserved  him  and  his  people  in  stand- 
ing in  the  Christian  church,  and  had  enaljled  them  to 
erect  their  place  of  worsiiij)." 

"  The  proprietors  of  tbe  house  are  pledged  to  the  dis- 
charge of  certain  ol)ligations,  under  which  the  church  can- 
not be  brought,  and  in  which  case  the  church,  in  its 
present  form,  can  aiford  them  no  assistance." 

The  proprietors  were  here  the  incorporated  pew-owners, 
over  which,  according  to  Congregational  civil  statute  law 
(under  which  they  were  incorp(n'ated),  the  then  existing 
Presbyterian  church  of  Boston  had  no  control.  Tiie 
church,  that  is,  the  elders  and  members,  rulers  and  ruled, 
had  no  recognized  existence  in  civil  law,  by  which  they 
could  hold  and  enjoy  any  part  of  the  property  obtained. 
Hence,  "  the  i)roprietors  of  th(}  house  are  pledged  to  the 
discharge  of  certain  obligations,  under  which  the  church 
cannot  be  brought,"  and  in  which,  "as  a  pro])erly  organ- 
ized Presbyterian  church,  it  can  afford  the  pro})rietors  no 
assistance."  If  the  reader  will  please  kee])  this  recorded 
fact  in  memory,  he  can  clearly  see  what  has  signed  the 
death-warrant  for  Presbyterianism  in  Congregational  New 
England. 

"  My  duty  then  is  plain,  nnd  that  is,  to  secure  the  entire 
apparatus  of  the  church  upon  a  foundation  that  will  pro- 
vide for  its  exigencies  temporal  and  s})iritual.  Those  of 
you  who  can  go  into  these  measures,  cheerfully  and  with 
a  good  conscience,  will  l)e  able  to  exemj)lify  the  common 
principles  of  our  Christian  faith  ai)art  iVom  all  sectarian- 
ism. Others  of  you,  not  so  minded,  forbidden  by  a  ten- 
tier  conscience,  will  lind  another  way,  and  no  damage  will 
be  sustained  by  either  party." 

His  letter  presents  the  too  common  apathy  of  the  exotic, 
Presl)yterianism,  and  its  almost  hopeless  struggle  with 
modern  Congregationalism  in  tiie  land  of  its  birth. 

As  Mr.  Sabine  was  trained  under  and  iuto  Independency, 
and  not  taking  Presbyterianism  "  in  the  natural  way,"  he 
was  "  ready  to  change."    His  aid  had  come  from  Episco- 


iiti 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


341 


Ith 

Lve, 

tho 

.hut 

'  liis 

ind- 

1  to 

ais- 

f  an- 
il  itri 

rners, 
c  law 
isting 
The 
ruled, 
1  tbcy 
Lained. 

to  the 
church 

ov'f<;an- 

0V3  no 

corded 

cd  tlic 

al  ^^c^v 

|e  entire 
;ill  pro; 
lose  of 
lul  with 
ttnnmon 
jctarian- 
Iv  a  ten- 
Iv^G  will 

Ic  exotic, 
jrle  NY  ith 

fndency, 


Ivay 


"he 


Episco- 


pal friends,  while  Prcshyterians  liad,  like  the  priest  and 
the  Levito,  "passed  l)y  on  tlio  other  si(U!."  As  "that 
which  is  natural  is  first,  and  afterward  that  which  is 
spiritual,"  so,  hy  relievinLr  Idin  and  liis,  when  in  distress 
and  want,  lie  was  naturally  drawn,  ccck'siastically,  to  his 
benefactors.  Consc(picntly,  within  a  year  lie  "took  or- 
ders" in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  church,  and  it  is  said  a 
part  of  the  conizreijation  went  with  him. 

Thus  "ended  the  first  lesson"  of  Presbyterianism  in 
Boston  under  the  Synod  of  Albany;  and  thus  there, 
within  ninety  years,  were  three  churches  of  that  order 
blotted  out.  "  Tlie  jiroprietors  of  the  house"  were  moored  to 
their  "  oblii^ations,"  and  the  churcli  in  its  tlien  i)resenb 
form,  destitute  of  a  pastor,  was  in  no  position  to  atlbrd 
tliem  assistance. 

They  liad  forgotten  the  wise  counsel  of  Jolni  Rodgers : 
"  Build  not  your  house  too  high."  Consequently,  for  a 
debt  of  some  88,000  due  to  the  builders,  the  fine  brick 
edifice  of  "The  First  Presbyterian  Society,  Boston,"  was, 
in  July,  1834,  sold  to  the  Metliodists. 

About  1824  congregations  appear  to  have  been  multi- 
plied by  accessions  from  different  towns,  which  came  to 
Presbytorianism,  and,  in  1825,  out  of  the  Londonderry 
one,  the  Presbytery  of  Newburyport  was  formed,  of  course 
by  the  authority  of  the  Synod  of  Albany.  In  1828  it  em- 
braced six  churches  and  twelve  ministers,  including  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Sabine,  Church  Street  church,  and  one  in  Mill- 
hury.  Mass, 

Why  said  Presbytery  was  formed,  is  matter  of  conjec- 
ture. It  appears  to  have  received  as  its  "  form  of  sound 
words,"  the  Westminster  Catechism  oidy  "  for  substance 
of  doctrine,"  and  the  congregations  which  composed  it 
seemed  generally  only  to  have  graspetl  this  form  of  gov- 
ernment lor  a  season,  as  something  tangible  and  com]iara- 
tivolv  stable.  Hence,  in  1811,  says  the  Rev.  Dr.  Ezra 
Styles  Ely  (Contrast,  pp.  278,  270), '' The  Now  England 
ohurches  formerly  had  a  confession  and  system  of  ecclesi- 
astical government;  ))ut  the  admission  of  multitudes,  who 
disregarded  those  standards,  to  every  jiriviiege  and  ottice, 
has  finally  produced  this  effect,  that  few  churches  acknowl- 
edge the  authority  of  their  ])latforms  of  governnjcnt,  and 
very  few  have  any  government  at  all.     That  the  Saybrook, 


B(f 


M 


842 


HISTORY  OF   PREPnYTKRTANISM 


Cambridge  avid  Boston  platforms  slioiild  be  in  many 
churches  disregarded  alter  the  most  solemn  adojjtion  by 
the  original  churches  of  Connecticut  and  Massaeliuselts,  is 
not  wonderful,  when  we  remember  that  those  valuable  in- 
•struments  contain  the  marrow  of  Calvinism.  The  llop- 
Ivinsians,  Sabellians,  Arians  und  >Socinians  cannot  be  ex- 
pected to  like  them. 

"  When  any  individual  is  admitted  to  the  Presbyterian 
church  in  the  United  States,  he  either  ])rofesses,  or  tacitly 
consents  sincerely  to  '  receive  and  ad()i)t  the  coni'ession  of 
faith  of  this  church,  as  containing  the  system  of  doctrine 
taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,'  and  'no  ])rrson,  who  is  not 
fully  convinced  of  the  truth  of  this  system,  or  who  is  not 
a  Calvinist  in  sentiment,  can  conscientiously  unite  him- 
self to  the  Presbyterian  church,  by  assent  to  its  confession 
of  faith.  Neither  can  such  a  ))erson,  without  jirevarica- 
tion,  consent  to  tlie  standards  of  anv  Presbvterian  coniire- 
gation  in  the  United  States.  This  should  be  well  undcr- 
Btood  by  private  Christians  and  by  all  the  rulers  in  the 
household  of  faith.  A  confession  of  faith  should  be  a  bond 
of  union  ;  l)ut  it  will  be  of  no  utility,  when  ])ersons  of  con- 
trary opinions.  U])on  the  fundamental  articles  of  religion, 
Bul)scribc  it.  It  then  only  becomes  the  bond  of  perpetual 
discord. 

"  Should  teachers  and  private  Christians,  scceders  from 
the  Calvinism  of  the  reformed  churches,  continue  to  enter 
the  Presl)yterian  church,  the  result  must  ])robably  be, 
that  the  confession  of  faith  and  form  of  government  now 
(in  April,  b'Sll )  used  with  the  most  hapjn'  etl'ect,  must 
Boon,  like  the  Cambridge,  Boston  and  Saybrook  platforms, 
without  any  re[)eal,  be  consigned  to  the  garret,  there  to 
moulder  until  the  antiquarian  shall  deem  them  worthy  of 
a  place  in  his  library." 

I  thus  quote  extensively  from  this  candid  author,  bo- 
cause  the  fruits  of  expediency  were  now  (in  182S)  a]ipear- 
ing  as  apples  of  discord,  and  ministers  nnist,  in  modern 
phraseology,  settle  down  in  their  "  athnities."  The  Pres- 
byterian church  in  the  United  States  then  reijuired  assent 
to  a  creed,  not  so  since  18()'.). 

"In  the  year  1801  a  conventional  agreement  was  en- 
tered into  with  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut,  by 
the  Assen)bly  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  for  tin?  ])ur])ose 


"Y  '    "^  ^  f"!  ~  ^  M 


IN   NEW   ENGLAND. 


343 


)lV  1>^N 


here  lo 
i-tby  of 

hor,  be- 

Iniodern 

le  I'rcs- 
ll  assent 

Iwiis  en- 

liciit,  by 
purpose 


of  prcventinfT  alienation,  and  promoting:  harmony  in  those 
new  settlements  which  were  tiien  eomposed  uf  persons 
adlierin*,'  to  botli  these  bodies."  {D'kj.^  p.  57o.)  By  thia 
"a  standinii;  eommittee  for  the  exercise  of  discipline," 
chosen  by  the  church,  were  to  take  the  place  as  a  substi- 
tute for  a  constituted  session  of  ordained  rulinj;  elders  in 
church  courts,  and  from  whose  "result"  no  appeal  could 
be  taken  to  a  Presbytery,  as  they  were  not  under  the  juris- 
diction of  any. 

Til  is  "  breed  "  (by  the  crossinfr  of  two  species)  had  now 
grown  for  one-fourth  of  a  century,  and  ii\  the  face  of  dis- 
sents and  protests,  these  "mixed  societies"  even  forced 
their  unordained  men  into  the  Assembly  as  constituent 
members.  (//>.)  This  body  being  now  honey-combed  in 
governnuMit,  it  was,  of  course,  proportionably  leavened  in- 
creasingly with  "seceders  from  the  Calvinism  of  the  Re- 
formed churches."  \\\  such  cases,  as  kSocinianism  had 
now  extensively  permeated  the  Congregational  societies 
of  iMassachusetts,  so  this  plausible  scheme  of  Joab  and 
Amasa  charity,  to  gratify  the  lust  of  numbers,  brought 
members  into  churches,  and  congregations  into  Presby- 
teries, until  many  were  "defiled  by  roots  of  bitterness." 

With  increasing  readiness  also,  Presbyterian  churches 
in  New  England  called  ministers  of  the  State  order,  to 
occupy  with  tiiem  as  their  pastors.  Thus,  when  the  Rev. 
Daniel  Dana  was  called  to  the  Presidency  of  Dartmouth 
College,  in  1820,  the  Rev.  Samuel  Porter  Williams,  a  Con- 
gregationalist,  who  had  in'eviously  labored  in  two  churches 
of  tiiat  order,  was  settled,  February  Sth,  1821,  as  pastor  of 
the  First  Presbyterian  church  in  Newbury  port.  How  far 
pastors  and  peoi>le  in  both  Presbyteries,  had  become 
"seceders  from  the  Calvinism  of  the  Reformed  churches" 
(in  the  absence  of  their  records),  we  can  but  approxi- 
mately ascertain.  It  is  probabl-:"  that  the  new  one  em- 
braced the  greatest  amount  of  i-  :erodoxy,  for,  when  the 
"plan  of  union"  of  ISOl,  was,  as  an  "unnatural  and  un- 
constitutional svstem  "  (7)/^.,  ]).  710)  abrofjated  in  the  As- 
sembly by  a  vote  of  143  to  110,  in  1837,  "the  Presbytery 
of  Newbury])ort,  not  being  disposed  to  decide  between  the 
two  bodies  (Old  and  New  Schools)  claiming  the  name  and 
rights  of  the  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  has 
(says  the  Rev.  I.  F.  Stearns,  in  18-lGj  remained  separate." 


•■■•I  n 


I .' ;  ■■■ 


344 


HISTORY   OF   PRESnYTERIANISM 


(Cen.  Ser.,  p.  47.)  Tliis  the  mother  Presbytery,  mneh  to 
lier  credit,  did  not  do,  and  the  churches  in  Newhuryport, 
always  holding  the  catechism  ''for  sul)stance  ol'  doctrine," 
Koon  rejoined  her,  while  tiie  other  congregations,  '•  not 
being  disposed  "  (when  in  Tresbyterial  lorni)  "to  decide 
between"  the  theology  ot'tlie  Itcv.  Albert  liarnes  and  tliat 
of  Princeton,  were  speedily  disintegrated,  carrying  with 
them  into  Congregationalism,  whatever  ecclesiastical  sub- 
stance they  occupied. 

Thus,  the  ninth  Presbytery  in  New  England  in  one 
hundred  and  ten  years  (with  its  predecessors),  after  an 
existence  of  twelve  years,  floated  into  oblivion  in  I808. 

The  Presbytery  of  Newbury  port  was  formed  in  1825. 
The  pretext  seemingly  was,  tiuit  as  tlie  State  of  Massachu- 
setts was  more  influential  than  that  of  New  Hampshire, 
she  ought  to  have  a  Presbytery,  and  there  were  now 
enough  of  pastors  resident  in  tiie  May  State  for  the  pur- 
pose. When  constituted  by  tlie  Synod  of  Albany  out  of 
the  Presbytery  of  Londonderry,  it  consisted  of  the  first 
church  of  Newburyport,  the  church  of  Salem,  of  Princeton, 
Mass.;  of  Dracut,  Milbury  and  Church  Street  church,  Bos- 
ton. It  continued  as  a  court  until  the  sej)aration  of  the 
schools,  in  1838,  after  which  it  drifted,  and  by  1847  only 
the  First  clmreh  in  Newburyport  retamed  the  name,  in 
part  owing  to  their  arrangements  in  their  civil  matters  as 
Presbyterians,  and  to  their  experience  in  the  early  years  of 
their  existence. 

Again  we  look  west  of  the  river  Connecticut,  and  we  find 
Barnet,  Ryegate,  Tojisham  and  Craftsbury  steadfast  in  their 
profession.  Near  the  end  of  the  last  century  the  Rev.  Jos. 
McKinney,  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church,  preached 
in  Ryegate,  and  in  1800  his  brother-in-law,  the  Rev.  Wm. 
(iibson,  of  the  same  persuasion,  was  settled  there  as  town 
minister. 

In  1802  they  ordained  the  Rev.  Saml.  B.  Wiley,  D.  D.,  in 
later  life  a  pastor  and  teacher  of  high  position  in  Philadel- 
phia. 

Until  1815  Mr.  Gibson  labored  faithfully  and  success- 
fully in  the  ministry  in  Ryegate,  and  in  1817  he  was  suc- 
ceeded by  the  Rev.  James  Milligan,  D.  D.  Previously  to 
settlement  there  he  had  preached  a  good  while  to  a  peojile 
in  Tunbridge,  and  a  little  congregation  was  there  formed. 


IN    NEW  ENGLAND. 


345 


n  their 
'.  Jos. 
ached 
.  Win. 

s  town 


This  wns  cruphod  out  hy  rosuscitatin^  tho  Conpfrcj^ational- 
ist  society  ot'tiiu  town.  Ho  wan  then  settled  ])asl()r  (»!'  tho 
con{jjre<rations  ol"  this  order  in  Vermont,  tlien  eoiisistinir  of 
ahout  ei^dity  re;_adar  members,  exteiidin*^  from  Tunl)ridge 
to  Barnet  and  ('raflsl)ury,  a  territory  nearly  forty  miles 
sijuare.  His  eoutiretfatiou  increased  ra])idly  in  all  that 
ranpje  of  country.  He  preached  frefjuently  in  Chelsea, 
Corinth,  Newbury,  Toj)sham,  Peacham,  iJanvillc,  Cahot, 
Hardwieke,  etc.  About  iSol  Mr.  Milli<fan  ^^'lve  a  branch 
of  his  con<ire;iation  in  Toitsham  to  the  Kev.  AN'm,  Sloan, 
who  obtained  the  minister's  lot  of  that  town.  He  labored 
faithfully  there  for  some  years,  but  his  support  was  inade- 
quate and  he  left. 

Although  To])sham  never  returned  formally  to  the  jvis- 
toral  charge  of  Mr.  Milli^^an,  still  he  sup]»lied  them  oeca- 
sionally,  took  a  friendly  care  of  them  as  far  as  he  could, 
and  as  they  needed.  In  the  meantime  he  pave  Craftsbury, 
a  church  of  above  sixty  mendxrs,  over  to  the  care  of  the 
hev.  Samuel  M.  Wilson,  who,  alter  a  fcAV  years,  removed  to 
Delaware  county,  N.  Y. 

He  was  succeeded  by  his  nephew,  the  Kev.  R.  Z.  "Wilson, 
who  at  the  end  of  this  quarter  had  chnri^e  of  that  con;jfre- 
gation.  Mr.  Milli^^an  laliored  still  in  I{ye<:atc  and  IJarnet, 
and  with  the  consent  of  his  jicople,  jieriormed  several  mis- 
sionary tours  into  Canada,  ujijjer  and  lower.  DilKcultics 
arose  in  his  contrrejiation  about  "  linintr  the  iisalms."  The 
>^ew  En<rland  peojtle  I'avored  book  sinjiinir,  and  the  Scotch 
were  zealous  for  lininff.  He  took  part  aj^ainst  the  Scotch, 
and  had  on  account  of  the  diilieulties  to  leave  them  in 
l^.'JU.  After  his  removal  the  Kyejiate  and  Jlarnet  people 
called  the  Rev.  James  Milli<ian  Jycattie,  who  has  since,  not 
only  to  1843,  till  1808,  but  till  1881  been  their  pastor.  In 
lSo6  the  Rev.  N.  R.  Johnston  was  ])astor  of  the  To])sham 
eongrepiation,  anrl  Mr.  R.  Shields,  a  })robationer,  was 
preaching  in  Craftsbury. 

During  the  ministry  of  Mr.  Milligan  a  division  took 
]ilace  in  the  Reformed  Prcsl)yterian  Church  in  America  re- 
specting the  use  of  the  elective  franchise — one  j'arty  main- 
taining that  those  who  exercised  it  under  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  ought  to  be  subjected  to  the  discipline  of 
the  church;  the  other  maintaining  that  this  should  be 
made  a  matter  of  forbearance.     This  resulted,  in  a.  d.  1833, 


!'■ 


Ill 


34G 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


in  the  formation  of  two  separate  synods.  The  efloct  was 
soon  f(']tiii  Kvt'jrato,  and  in  1S4.'>  tlic  church  was  hoj)cl(^ssly 
divided.  Those  who  woukl  make  it  not  a  matter  of  disci- 
])hne  hut  of  forbearance^,  were  recoj^nized  as  the  conj^ret^a- 
tion  of  the  General  Synod  of  the  Reformed  I'reshyterian 
(Jhureh,  or  New  SciiooL  Those  who  considered  it  a  mattiT 
of  (hity  to  abstain  from  tlie  us(!  of  the  elective  franchise 
were  and  are  called  the  Ileformed  Presbyterians,  or  Old 
School. 

Soon  after  Mr.  Milli^'an  left,  tiie  New  Liiiht  division  ob- 
tained an  or<;:mization  in  South  Kye^xate,  and  had  (in 
185(5)  one  or  two  congregations  in  Caledonia  and  Orange 
counties,  Vermont. 

During  the  pastorate  of  the  Rev.  David  Goodwillio  in 
the  Associate  church  in  Jiarnet  from  1790  to  1<S.'>(),  more 
than  four  hundred  persons  were  enrolled  as  members,  bo- 
side  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  ])rol)ably  in  Ryegatc, 
which  from  1790  till  1S22  shared  one-sixth  of  his  labor. 

In  September,  1826,  his  son  Thomas  was  installed  as  his 
assistant  in  Barnet,  while  in  1822  the  Rev.  Thomas  Fcrricr 
Avas  inducted  as  pastor  in  Ryegate,  which  charge  he  held 
for  live  years. 

In  June,  1880,  by  the  Presbytery  of  Cambridge  (N.  Y.), 
Mr.  W'illiam,  son  of  the  Rev.  Alexander  Pringle  (who  was 
for  more  than  sixty  years  pastor  of  tlie  Associate  congre- 
gation of  Perth,  Scotland),  was  ordained  as  their  pastor, 
and  continued  in  that  ollice  till  IS.VJ. 

In  1840  the  Presbytery  of  Cainl)ridge  was  rent  by  faction, 
and  from  1840  the  Rev.  James  McArthur  ministered  one- 
half  of  his  time  in  R^'egate,  and  tlu;  other  half  at  SteviMis' 
village,  in  Harnet.  He  resigned  these  charges  in  18r)7. 
This  was  well,  for  it  would  have  taken  a  much  longer  time 
for  the  wrath,  i)rciudice  and  partisan  spirit  of  man  there 
to  "  work  the  righteousness  of  Clod." 

Living  remote  from  Cambridge  and  being  prospered  as 
pastoral  charges,  the  ministers  and  congregations  in  the 
State  adhering  to  that  Presl)ytery  were,  on  July  10th,  1840, 
according  to  the  decree  of  the  Associate  Synod,  constituted 
the  Associate  Presbytery  of  Vermont.  It  might  not  be 
amiss  here  to  ask  how  it  was  that  these  congregations 
under  Milligan,  Goodwillie,  Pringle,  and,  others  prospered 
as  Presbyterians,  while  not  a  few  (as  noticed)  sank  into  ob- 


IX   \E\V  ENGLAND. 


347 


was 

lisci- 

reya- 

it'uiu 

uittrr 

ic\\iso 

I-  Old 

111  ob- 

1(1  (in 
)ran;^o 

11  io  in 
),  inoro 
prs,  bc- 
-yo-^ate, 
ibor. 
a  as  bis 
Fcvrier 
^e  belli 

(N.  Y.), 

vbo  was 

coniiro- 

pastov, 

faction, 

:od  ono- 

Stcvons' 

in  IS.')?. 

lo;er  time 

[Ju  tbcro 

[pored  a« 

lis  in  tbo 

T)tb,  lS4i\ 

InstituU'd 

it  iu)t  be 

k-esatious 


llvion,  or,  if  lioldins  tbcir  form  of  nrovrrnmcnt,  they  merely 
contiinifd  to  exist  fntin  iSlS  till  l.S-l.'J? 

One  reason  obviously  was  that  *'  the  doctrine  of  Clod,  our 
Saviour"  was  to  thcni  ol'  more  importance  than  the  "divers 
and  stranire  doctrines''  with  which  Conjrre^'ationalism  had 
Hooded  New  Knirland.  'I'he  Shorter  Catechism  was  inva- 
rial)ly  their  "  form  of  sound  words."  Jiut  their  |i;rasp  of 
this  was  strengthened  by  the  us(;  of  tlic  inspired  psalms 


Tiieso  as  a  jiortion  of  "the  word  which  lias  proceeded  out 
of  the  mouth  of  Clod,"  and  by  which  alone  man  is  ever  to 
liv(>,  formed  a  ])art  of  their  daily  hr(>ad. 

Their  toil  must  vary  with  the  seasons,  but  with  them  it 
was  as  imperative  as  it  was  j)leasant  to  "  sbcw  forth  the  lov- 
in;,'  kindiu'ss  of  (Jod  in  the  inorninLr,  and  to  declare  to  him 
bis  faithfulness  every  ni^ht."  Like  the  dwellers  oii 
"  West  Runnini:;  Brook,"  in  I)crry,a  century  before,  they  be- 
gan and  ended  cacli  day  with  family  worship,  and  by  them 
"the  house  of  (lod"  was  not  "forsaken."  "This  formed  the  \ 
axis  of  their    (daily;  mind ;  this  made  tbem  steadfast  in 


their  good  old  way 


U  'P 


The  church  in  the  house  "  was  with 


^n-ospercu 
i  into  ob- 


them  a  power  subservient  to  the  purity  of  doctrine,  the 
fulfilment  of  daily  duties,  the  ]iatient  endurance  of  toil  and 
trial,  the  support  of  ordinances,  and  the  growth  of  the  di- 
vine life  in  their  souls  and  the  souls  of  their  children. 
Family  worship  is  set  up  and  maintained  only  where  that 
"fear  of  (Jod  which  is  the  ix'ginning  of  wisdom  "  (^xMsts, 
while  its  "  fruit  is  unto  Ijoliness  and  tbo  end  everlasting  life." 

Households  thus  trained,  with  less  difliculty  than 
others,  "  serve  their  gcneratit)n  by  the  will  of  (Jod."  They 
abide  und(>r  the  shadow  of  the  Almighty,  and  "render  to 
Cicsar  the  things  that  are  his."  For  all  this,  the  use,  the 
increased  uiderstanding,  and  the  spiritual  realization  of 
"the  glorious  jisalms,  which  have  been  drop])ed  down 
from  an  higher  ])lane  "  (Uev.  Joseph  Cook),  not  the  "en- 
ticing words  of  man's  wisdom  ''  in  j)oetry  can  alone  avail. 

h\  some  four  or  five  towns  of  Caledonia  and  Orleans 
counties,  Vermont,  at  the  end  of  this  (piarter  of  a  century, 
the  Psalms,  while  they  were  ignored  or  consigned  to  ob- 
livion in  all  i)laces  elsewhere  in  New  England,  Avert;  there 
used  as  the  matter  of  jiraise  to  Jehovah.  To  sup|)ly  the 
congregations  named  wdien  vacant,  and  to  occupy  in 
growing  stations,  required  not  a  little  labor  at  this  point 


!j 


.:     « 


.  i^; 


348 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


SO  distant  beyond  the  Green  ^Fountains,  yet  the  demand 
■was  mot.  As  an  item  illustrative,  I  present  the  statement 
of  Mrs.  William  Gray,  of  Kyiinrate,  made  Oetobcr  'Jl.st, 
1876,  who  was  married  in  1813,  and  was  "given  to  hos- 
pitality:" 

"I  1.  tertained  "  (here  naminf;  them)  "in  sixty- 

three  years  tliirty-eifjjht  ministers,  who  all  eame  from  the 
State  of  New  York  and  beyond  as  pastors  and  supplies  to 
our  vacaneies." 

During  the  pastorate  of  the  Rev.  Wm.  Morrison,  D.  D., 
the  chureh  of  Londonderry  reeeived  substantial  aid  from 
the  estate  of  Elder  John  Pinkerton,  who  died  in  May, 
1816.  "  He  bestowed  nine  thousand  dollars  upon  each  of 
the  two  Presbyterian  congregations  in  town  for  the  sup- 
I)ort  of  the  gosi)el,  and  thirteen  thousand  as  a  fund  for  the 
support  of  an  academy."     {1\) 

He  wisely  directed  how  his  earnings  should  be  used, 
and  of  his  will  so  much  is  transferred  to  his  tomi)stone  as 
shews  that  so  long  as  the  doctrine  taught  in  I'rinceton,  N. 
J.,  should  be  inculcated  there,  so  lung  suould  said  funds 
be  enjoyed  by  that  Presbyterian  church.  To  teacli 
another  doctrine  would  "impair  the  ol>ligations  of  the 
contract;  "  hence  the  Londonderry  church  continued  to  be 
Presbyterian,  while  those  "given  to  change  "(some  twenty- 
three  members)  about  1830,  united  with  forty  from  East 
Dcrry,  and  formed  the  Congregational  "  society  "  in  Derry 
Lower  village.     (Pert.) 

Dr.  Morrison  was  succeeded,  January  loth,  1822,  by  the 
Rev.  Daniel  Dana,  I).  D.,  who  was  called  from  the  presi- 
dency of  Dartmouth  College,  and  on  his  own  recpiest  he 
was  released  in  April,  1826. 

He  was  succeeded  on  June  25th,  1828,  by  the  Rev. 
Amasa  A.  Hayes,  who  died  October  2od,  183(1,  greatly  la- 
mented. On  October  oth,  1831,  the  Rev.  John  R.  Adams 
was  installed,  and  on  his  own  re(]Uest  he  was  dismissed  by 
the  Presl)ytery  in  September,  1838.  In  Londonderry  the 
ti»wn  n)eetings  have  always  been  opened  with  prayer. 
'I'll is  was  a  not  unfrequent  custom  in  niany  towns  when 
sound  doc!trine  was  maintained  and  godliness  was  shewn 
in  New  England,  although  to  infidelity  now  it  looks  very 
much  like  "church  and  state."  The  Rev.  Timothy  G. 
Brainerd  was  installed  pastor  in  that  church  on  November 
6th,  1840. 


IN    NEW  ENGLAND. 


349 


,f  the 
L  to  be 
vcnty- 
1  Kast 
Dorry 

hv  the 


issed  hy 
h-vy  the 
prayer, 
us  when 
;  s\u'\vn 
)ks  very 


)vein 


Since  1827  the  old  or  cast  town  had  hccn  by  lejrisLative 
enactniont  calh'd  Dcrri/,  and  in  it  the  Ki'V.  E.  L.  Parker, 
who  was  orchiined  and  installed  on  Si'i)tenil)cr  12th, 
1810,  continued  successfully  to  labor  throu;j;li  this  quarter 
of  a  century.  His  fort  was  not  in  th(>  teachin<iof  "the 
doctrine  of  (}od  our  Saviour,"  distinjiuishinj^  things  which 
diifer,  but  in  practical  instruction  and  diligence  in  pastoral 
labor  "  /Vo»i  hon.se  to  house J^  "  No  one  ever  heard  from  his 
j)ulpit  the  distinctive  views  or  modes  of  philosophizing 
adopted  l)y  Edwards,  Hopkins,  Dwight,  Burton  or  Em- 
mons." Yet  in  his  charge  of  nearly  four  hundred  fam- 
ilies, and  nearly  two  thousand  souls,  it  was  aflirmed  by 
others  that  he  knew  the  name  of  every  child.  The  people 
had  now  for  a  century  formed  religious  habits  of  liunily 
catechizing,  i'amily  worship,  attachment  to  the  house  of 
God,  Sabbath  sanctiiication,  and  respect  to  their  pastors 
when  worthy  of  their  conhdence,  so  that  he  had  "other 
men's  lines  of  things  made  ready  to  his  hand." 

Beside  this  he  was  surrounded  by  a  large  number  of 
ruling  elders,  who  "magnilied  their  office"  in  "taking 
h(Hid  to  the  ilock  over  whicli  the  Holy  Ghost  had  made 
them  bishops;"  so,  notwithstanding  that  the  disturl)ing 
parties,  wiio  had  previously  sold  their  Presbyterian 
"birthright"  for  less  than  a  "mess  of  pottage,"  had  re- 
turned, and  confidence  in  them  must  have  been  exten- 
sively "like  a  broken  tooth,  or  a  foot  out  of  joint,"  the 
congregation  as  a  working  church  thus  manned  were 
])robably  not  surpassed  by  any  (and  probably  not 
«'(|ualled)  in  New  England  for  efficiency.  While  all 
things  were  thus  condu-  ted  well,  "decently  and  in  order," 
the  pastor  acted  on  the  princii)ie  that  youth  is  the  seed 
time  of  life,  and  "years  previous  to  the  establishment  of 
Sabbath  schools  in  New  England,  he  adopted  measures  to 
give  the  youth  of  his  charge  a  more  extensive  and  exact 
knowledge  of  the  Bible. 

"As  early  as  1815  he  established  monthly  the  'Adclphi ' 
society  for  young  men  and  (meeting  at  a  different  time 
with  the  same  frecpiency)  the  Young  Ladies'  Cateehetieal 
Society."  These  were  expected  to  illustrate  and  esta])lish 
particular  assigned  subjects  by  texts  of  Scrij)ture.  Few 
congregations  had  a  more  ))r(^n)ising  circle  of  young  men 
than  this  one,  before  the  advantages  held  out  to  them  from 


I* 


li 


If 
f 


'nir?: 


I 


350 


HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


abroad  induced  thorn  to  leave  their  native  place.  He 
wouM  pcrsuiido  tht;  youth  to  commit  to  mrmori/  tlic  Shorter 
CatccJu.siit,  and  lor  many  years  his  (aistom  was  to  trive  a 
pocket  Testament  to  every  child  who  would  rei)eat  it  per- 
fectly. This  was  wisdom.  When  Sahhath  schools  and 
temperance  societies  were  introduced,  he  was  earnest  that 
all  the  children  mi^ht  take  an  interest  in  them;  and  to 
promote  general  education,  he  durin*:;  almost  the  whole  of 
his  ministry  visited  the  ei-^ht  or  ten  week-day  schools 
each  four  times  a  year.  The  scholars  knew  that  their 
proirress  was  marked,  and  were  thus  (quickened  to  nohkr 
exertions  for  the  next  school  visitation.  In  the  diffusion 
and  enjoyment  of  hiiiiher  education,  both  ])astor  and  people 
were  active,  lie  was  a  trustee  in  both  the  Pinkerton 
Academy  and  in  the  Adams'  F<Mnale  Academy  from  their 
tirst  establishment,  and  was  President  of  both  boards  at 
the  tim(!  of  his  death.  \n  favorable  weather  he  usually 
preached  three  times  on  the  Sal)l)ath,  in  the  evenini,'  at  an 
outj)ost  in  one  of  the  school-houses,  and  it  is  judiicd  that 
on  an  average  he  preached  three  lectures  a  week.  The 
first  temperance  society  and  the  first  Sal)bath  school  in  tlio 
{State,  it  is  believed,  wen?  hy  him  established  in  Derry."' 

As  we  have  seen,  in  17SG  Mrs.  Atrnes  Wilson  refused  to 
have  her  })ew,  owned  in  her  own  rijjlit,  taxed  for  tin;  re- 
pairs and  ])aintinfr  of  the  church,  when  a  majority  of  the 
pew  proprietors  and  others '*  im])aired  the  ol)li.iations  of 
the  contract''  made  between  .fohn  Little  and  the  bene- 
ficiaiies  of  his  trust  l>v  votin;^  Presbyterian  property  into 
Con<j;regational  use.  And  while  she  had  the  mortification 
to  see  a  stran;j:er  of  another  denominati«->n  ibisted  into  her 
father's  j)ulpit,  and  soutrht  reliirious  instruction  for  her- 
self and  her  familv  elsewhere,  she  lived  to  see  not  liss 
than  four  other  occupants  in  tb(!  desk  of  Federal  Street 
Church — Helknap,  in  1787,  Popkin,  in  17U'.),  Channintr,  in 
1S<.I3,  and  Gannett,  in  1824,  when  she  was  eighty -seven 
years  old. 

Sh(!  witnessed  at  least  one  other  revolution  beside  that 
of  colonial  independence,  but  of  an  opposite  character- 
one  in  which  "the  Sonof  (lod  was  trodden  under  foot,  the 
blood  of  the  covenant  where\vit!i  In;  was  sanctified  (M)unte(l 
an  unholy  thing,  and  desj)ite  done  mito  the  Spirit  of 
grace,"  and  all  this  in  "  the  Irish  Presbyterian  meeting- 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


351 


He 

ve  a 

por- 

and 

t\uit 
\d  to 
lie  of 
;\i(H)l3 

tlu'ir 

I'u^ion 

kerlon 
n  tlifir 
irdri  at 
Lisually 
,r  at  an 


liouse  "  in  the  presence  of  John  Little's  pew,  hy  the  opera- 
tion ol"  Congregationalism,  in  the  space  of  thirty-eight 
years. 

Durinsxthis  period,  1818-1843.  several  changes  in  the  way 
of  worshij)  were  introduced  in  Newbury  port,  such  as  not 
rea(Hng  out  the  hymn,  line  by  line,  drojjping,  in  connection 
with  tlie  ol)servance  of  the  Lord's  Sui>i)er,  tlie  week-day 
meetings,  all  except  the  fast  on  Tuesday,  and  the  "fencing  " 
of  the  table.  Tliis  implies  that  they  still  sat  down  at 
a  table,  and  did  not  hand  the  elements  around. 

In  tlie  Prospect  Street  (,'hurch,  after  the  usage  had  been 
discontinued  l»y  Mr.  Miltimore  in  the  lirst  Presbyterian, 
Mr.  Milton,  wlio  was  a  foreigner,  it  is  said,  continued 
the  ])ractice  till  his  death.  Adojiting  a  course  similar 
to  the  one  pursued  by  Mr.  Murray  in  the  close  of  his 
sermon,  he  wouhl  say:  ''From  our  sui>ject  we  learn  who 
liave  and  who  have  not  a  right  to  come  to  this  holy 
table.  Suruly  they  have  no  right  here,  who  trami)le  under 
thciir  feet  the  blood  of  the  everlasting  covenant,  and  do 
desjiite  to  tlif  Spirit  of  grace  I  do,  therefore,  solemnly 
enclose  and  fence  this  table;  1  do  warn  all  unregenerated 
j)ersons  not  to  draw  near;  I  debar  all  who  deny  the  impu- 
tation of  sin  and  righteousness,  for  thev  can  never  have 
known  the  jilague  of  their  own  hearts,  nor  the  need  of 
righteousness  answerable  to  the  demands  of  tlu;  law — all 
Armmians,  for  they  de]»end  on  and  seek  to  justify  them- 
selves by  their  own  works — all  Antinomians,  who  ])rofess 
to  receive  liim  by  faith,  but  in  works  deny  him — all 
Arians  and.Soeinians,"  etc.,  etc. 

Although  such  exercLses  wear  a  barbaric  aspect,  not 
only  to  those  who  "live  according  to  the  course  of  this 
world,"'  under  modern  culture,  Imt  to  all  hymn-sing(^rs, 
yet  th(\v  were  ])otent,  under  (iod  the  Spirit,  in  "warning 
the  unruly  and  comforting  the  feeble-minded,"  while  they 
made  those  who  were  "strong  in  the  Lord"  "])onder  the 
paths  of  their  feet,"  as  they  were  about  to  "take  the  cup 
of  salvation." 

The  Uev.  John  Proudfit,  D.  D.,  was  called  from  Rutgers 
College,  New  Jersey,  and  installed  pastor  of  the  lirst  Pres- 
byterian (church  in  Xewburyport,  on  ()ctol)er  4th,  1S27. 
At  this  date  the  elliciency  of  the  means  of  grace  seems  to 
liavo  continued,  and  while,  during  his  ministry,  two  com- 


352 


HISTORY  OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


munions  passod  witliout  additionp,  still  his  annunl  avornsre 
lor  five  :m(l  one-half  vt.'iirs  ahout  cMiualledthe  entire  united 
annual  increase  ot"  his  j)redeeess()rs.  Parsons  had  an  annual 
increase  a veraj^dn;;  ten  ;  Murray,  seven  ;  Dana,  eij^ht ;  Wil- 
liams, fifteen;  and  Proudtit,  thirty-nine. 

Ills  health  failed.  On  July  .'Jd,  I80I,  he  sailed  for 
Europe,  and  was  ahsent  till  January,  l<So2.  His  ])ulpit 
was  supplied  hy  Rev.  Mr.  Cheever  and  the  Kev.  Joseph 
Ahhott,  Conjire^ationalisls. 

On  June  21st,  a  four  days'  nieetin*!;  was  comtnenced  at 
.Mr.  Milton's  church,  as  most  central,  by  Drs.  Beeeher, 
AV'isner,  Adams,  and  Rev.  Messrs.  Cunuiuni:,  Cleaveland, 
IManchard,  and  others — all  Con<rre;:ationalists.  In  four- 
teen months  one  hundred  and  twenty  united  with  tliis 
church,  and  by  October,  1832,  the  usual  njaction  took 
place,  when,  ''owinj^  to  some  recent  ditru'ullit's,"  twenty- 
nine  asketl  disnnssions,  and  Mr.  Cheever  would  j)rohabiy 
liave  been  settled  in  town,  could  a  church  have  been  ob- 
tained for  him.  (  K )  On  razeeing);  the  house,  in  1829,  by 
winch  "the  inside  was  somi'what  reduced  in  size,  the  ceil- 
inii;  lowered,  new  galleries  put  in,  tiie  ])ulpit  removed  from 
tiie  side,"  and  a  monument  erected  over  the  crypt  of  tlio 
immortal  Whitelield  (whose  remains,  excepting;  the  ])ur- 
loined  mi<rratinii;  arm-bone,  taken  to  Entiland,  and  after 
years  returned,  liad  rested  in  this  venerable  buildin!j:  sinco 
soon  after  his  tleath,  on  iSeptember  o(Jth,  1770),  "a  *  wlii.s- 
pering  gallery,'  unsurpassed,  it  is  said,  unless  by  St.  Paul's, 
in  London,  was  accidentally  discovered.  This  forms  a 
conspicuous  feature  of  the  building  at  i)resent."  (lb.) 

Dr.  Proudlit  was  dismissed  on  January  24th,  183;i.  To 
the  people,  or  rather  to  the  cause  of  "order"  among  them 
after  their  revival,  his  departure  was  ]>artieularly  unhappy. 
An  "awakening"  ])rodueed  by  the  insli'umentality  of  nine 
or  more  Congregationalist  preachers,  with  their  "'exereisc.'' 
"taste,"  "substratum,"  and  other  "schemes,"  could  hardly^ 
be  supposed  to  make  a  church  of  Presbyterians  nioro* 
"steadlast  and  innnovable  in  the  work  of  the  Lord.'' 
Consequently,  during  two  years  and  a  hall',  many  caiuli- 
dates  were  heard.  Some  ])rofessors  were  disjjosed  to  have 
the  church  (as  in  1741-(1)  turned  over  to  Congregation- 
alism, and  were  oidy  hindered  in  their  revolutionary  enter- 
prise by  the  parish  under  its  civil  organization.    One  or 


'  l! 


W' 


IN    NEW    ENGLAND. 


353 


nited 

Wil- 

(1  for 
[)ulpit 
ose\)h 

ced  at 
jecher, 
rt'land, 
\  Ibuv- 
th  thi^^ 
n  took 
twenty- 
vobabiy 
ecu  uh- 

the  ceil- 
:ed  fi»in 
)t  of  Uio 
tlic  pur- 
ud  after 

a'-wliis- 


oxereii^e 


he 


two  cn]]^  wore  L'iven.  but  witliout  success.  They  had  to 
let  the  etVei'veseence  ));ir;s  oil". 

On  ?e|)tenil)er  Kith,  \>>'-V),  Mr.  Jonutlian  F.  Stearns  was 
ordained  over  them.  His  ministry  was  faithfully  con- 
ducteil  tVom  youth  to  rii)er  years  with  peace  and  good 
fjuc(;ess. 

"  In  .\pril.  l'S2"),  the  pastoral  relation  which  had  sub- 
sisted between  the  IJcv.  David  McGregor  and  the  congre- 
gation of  lledford.  N.  II.,  tor  above  twenty  years,  was,  l>y 
mutual  consent,  dissolved  l>y  Presbvtery.  Ilis  ministry, 
it  is  believed,  was  greatly  blessed."  (P.) 

This  church,  being  formed  of  descendants  of  the  "Scotch- 
Irish  "'  rac(>  more  extensively  than  almost  any  other  one  in 
New  England  (excei»ting  I.ondcjnderry  and  Windham), 
has  been  less  "carried  away  with  every  wind  of  doctrine," 
and  consequently  has  vitality  as  well  as  "a  name  to  live." 
Over  it  the  IJev.  Thomas  Savage  was  installed  on  .July  oth, 
1820,  and  at  tlu'  end  of  this  (juarter  of  a  century  (1M43) 
we  find  him  and  them  "prospering  in  all  things,"  at  h^ast 
equally  with  others  around  them  who,  as  they  had  done, 
havi^  abandoned  the  apjiointed  jiurity  of  Divine  worship. 
Their  fust  meeting-house  served  nearly  eighty  years.  A 
new  one  was  built  in  1832. 

Antrim,  X.  II..  where  the  first  sermon  was  preached  in 
September,  ITT-"),  and  wlicr(>  the  Kev.  Walter  Little  was, 
from  1801)  till  iNOh  their  lu'st  pastor,  during  these  twenty- 
tive  years,  enjoved  the  stated  ministry  of  the  I{ev.  .lohn 
:M.  VVint(»n,  D."  D.  He  was  ordained  Se|)ten)ber  2Hth, 
1S()8,  and,  sui)ported  by  a  session  of  tw»'lve  ruling  elders, 
his  ministrv  was  I'lninentlv  successfid.  "The  year  1S27 
was  tlistinguished  by  a  rcmarkaltle  attention  to  religion, 
and  resulted  in  the  addition  of  one  hundred  pcnsons  to 
liis  church."  (7*.^ 

Over  Windham — which  was  incorporated  in  174i^  and 
which  had  enjoyed  the  labors  successively  of  the  Rev.  ^^'m, 
•lohnston,  Ilev.  .lolm  Kinkead,  and  the  Kev.  Simon  ^\'il- 
liams — the  IJev.  Samuel  Harris  was  ordained  in  1805.  In 
182(5,  owing  to  the  failure  of  his  voice,  the  ])astoral  rela- 
lion  was  dissolved.  He  was  succeeded,  in  1828,  by  the 
IJev.  Calvin  Cutler,  who  was  ordained  in  Ai)ril,  and  minis- 
tereil  to  this  congregation  until  his  deatli,  in  1844. 

Of  the  days  of  sorrow  and  shame  in  Peterboro,  by  the 
23 


(  :i 


4  • 


,        i. 


354 


IIISTOIIY    OF    rnESRYTERIAXISM 


In. 


^ 


i'i 


atrocious  mi.'^conduct  of  Morrison  and  Annan,  avo  Imve 
Bvvn  luoro  than  (Miou^ii.  At  iho  bepiinninL;-  of  this  ccntuiv 
the  "society"  a(h)pted  Con^r(',i,'ati()nal  loi'nis,  and  voted, 
that  oiK'c;  in  each  year  the  eonnnunion  should  be  observ('(l 
in  I'resbyterian  order  Ijy  a  i'resbyterian  niini.>^ter.  '"This 
service  was  for  many  years  iV-riornied  bv  the  Itev.  AVm. 
Morrison,  I).  D."        ' 

In  1<^L''2,  a  i)ortion  of  the  pc'ople,  who  had  n(>ver  been 
]»leased  with  the  ( 'on^M'eu'atioiial  eustoins,  and  others.  wIkj 
hnd  not  been  (juite  at  ease  under  an  Ariuiiiian  preacher, 
Avithdrew,  and  were,  on  aj){)lication,  l\)rn)ed  into  a  I'lcsbv- 
terian  cliurch.  In  ISii")  thev  built  a  nieetin^r-house,  and 
in  1827  the  Rev.  i'eter  Ilolt.was  instaUed  tlieir  pastor,  in 
Marcli,  1H;)0,  he  resi<i;ne(l  the  oflice,  and  th(>  Rev.  Mr.  Pine, 
"who  was  installi'd  the  next  year,  was  dismissed  in  January, 
1837.  For  two  years  tlie  Ui'V.  Joshua  liarret  was  stated 
supply.  On  March  ISth,  1810,  tlu;  llev.  James  |{.  French 
"Was  ordained  their  pastor,  and  he  was  still  olliciatin^'  there 
in  1843. 

They  had  tlius  in  twenty  years  three  pastors  and  one 
suj)j)ly — rather  too  many  teachei's  for  "<i(>dly  iMJifyinir," 
yet  tiiey  shewed  a  due  apj)reciation  of  the  means  oij^race, 
without  which  no  community  can  lonj;  and  truly  prosper, 
relifj;i()usly,  socially,  or  civilly. 

In  West  Derry,  alter  tin;  death  of  the  Ilev.  Dr.  Morrison, 
in  1818,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Dana  was,  with  ^^reat  nnanimity, 
elected.  Of  his  salary  of  seven  hundred  dollars,  one  hun- 
dred were  added,  by  subscri|)tion,  to  the  income  of  the 
Pinkerton  fund.  He  was  installed  on  January  loth,  1S22. 
This  pastoral  relation  was,  as  we  have  notiee(l,  on  his  re- 
quest and  by  their  consent  (most  unwillingly  LMV(>n),  dis- 
solved in  April,  182(i.  This  was  t\\v  first  instance  of  a  dis- 
missal in  that  (;on^re«];ation  since  its  orjianization. 

I)f.  Dana  was  so(m  aftcn'wards  installed  pastor  of  the 
second  Presbyterian  church  in  Newburyport. 

Over  this  |)eople  in  West  Derry  Mr.  Amasa  A.  Hayes 
was  ordained  June  'Joth,  1S28,  by  some  six  cleruymui, 
three  of  whotn — Bradford,  Holt  and  Savage — belonu'cd  to 
the  Presbytery.  In  a  little  over  two  years  he  had  "  (in- 
ished  "  his  pastoral  "  course,"  He  died  on  October  23(1, 
1830. 

Mr.  John  R.  Adams  was  ordained  on  October  5th^  1831. 


If 


IN    NEW    K.NGLAND. 


355 


Of  the  ?ovpn  ininistors  who  then  instnllofl  liiin,  four  bo- 
lonj^'cfl  to  tlic  rreribytcry,  vi/. :  Holt,  Parker,  Savage  and 
JJradford.  Jii  tliesc  con^rcpitioiis  it  must  bu  rcnicinbercd 
that  the;  onico  of  rulinu;  eUlcr  was  maintained  so  h)n<^  as 
they  won^  the  Pri'sbytcrian  name.  In  order  to  it,  there 
must  1)0  rulers  and  ruled.  The  common-st'nse  of  persons 
trained  in  Presbyterian  families  insured  this,  llenee,  us 
space  does  not  permit,  1  make  no  mention  of  the  ordina- 
tion of  this  class  of  church  rulers.  Ordination  and  in- 
stallation are  implied  in  the  oilice. 

While  a  i)art  of  ''the  course"  in  our '"schools  of  the 
prophets  "  ends  oftentimes  in  the  conversion  of  students 
tt»  a  belief  in  the  text,  ''  It  is  not  <:ood  that  the  man 
should  be  alone,"  and  not  a  few  discover  the  "])li^hted 
])nrtners  of  their  future  lives,"  while  they  fvrc  d(>lvin^  into 
llehrew  and  theolotry,  yet  not  so  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Adams, 
lie  (lid  not  do  even  so  wise  a  thinu,  but  married  a  Miss 
McCJrcfror,  of  Londonderry,  in  l.S.">2.  IJesults  seldom  vin- 
dicate the  wisdom  of  such  an  important  step  in  or  near 
the  seminary,  and  it  should  bo  esj)ecially  avoided  by  a 
jKistor  in  his  ov.-n  couLM-eL'ation,  where;  a  very  superior 
force  of  character  built  upon  and  endx-llished  by  divine 
grace  can  alone  conmiand  resj)ect  and  insure  usefulness 
to  one  amon^  her  mere  eipials,  who  has  the  duties  to 
])erform  connected  with  one  of  the  most  important  posi- 
tions, if  not  the  most  important,  which  woman  can  occupy 
on  earth. 

Not  only  in  common  with  those  of  other  <2;odly  mothers 
should  ''  her  children  rise  U|)  and  call  her  blessed,"  but  by 
lier  influences  and  daily  life, '"her  husband"  should  be 
'■  known  in  the  gates  when  lie  sitteth  among  the  ciders  of 
the  land." 

It  is  suppos(!d  that  his  action  and  experience  justified 
these  statements.  In  Septemher,  LSIvS,  he  resigned,  and 
in  October  the  pastoral  relation  was  dissolved  by  Presby- 
tery. 

Sh.  Timothy  O.  P>rainar{l  was  ordained  on  November 
r)tli,  bS4(),  and  in  bSh'i  was  still  the  ])astor  in  Londonderry. 
We  thus  lind  Presl)yterianism  in  New  England  at  the  end 
of  this  (puirter  of  a  century  end  tracing  only  the  congrega- 
tions of  Barnet,  Kyegate,  Toi)sham,  Peaeham  and  Crafts- 
bury,  retaining  as  the  matter  of  praise  to  God  in  tlie  sane- 


IP 


iW 


uf'  ■ 


356 


HISTORY   OP   PRKSBYTKRIANISM 


tuary  and  in  tlioir  families,  as  their  fathers  did,  "the 
words  which  the  Holy  (ihost  teachcth  in  the  Psalter,''  and 
in  the  use  in  their  churches  of  "  the  eiiticinj;  words  of 
man's  wisdom,"  which  hrouixht  "expri'ssivc  silence '' into 
their  households,  to  "  mcMlitatc  his  praise  "  in  the  coulm-c- 
^ations  of  Derry,  Londonderry,  Windham,  Litchlield,  Am- 
herst, Peterhoro,  Antrim,  Bedford,  New  Market,  New  lios- 
ton,  with  the  first  and  second  ones  of  Ncwhuryport,  while 
})ossibly  others  continued  to  retain  the  name  and  this  form 
of  government. 

The  S3'stem  of  doctrine,  jrovcrnment,  discapline  and 
worship  restin<;  on  a  ''thus  saith  the  Lord,'' was  now  so 
compresswl  hy  that  Iniilt  U])on  '' (io  to,  let  us,"  from  the 
Connecticut  river  to  Great  Menan,  that  it  was  no  lonuer 
felt  to  be  a  distinct  force  in  upholding  and  emhellishiiig 
the  social  relations  as  it  had  ])een  in  those  days,  when  the 
town  of  Derry  ])aid  the  one-l'ourteenth  of  the  taxes  of  the 
entire  State.  Congregationalism  was  now  al»*ost  wholly 
"at  ease  in  her  possessions  "  in  her  "native  l.,iid."  The 
forces  of  Protestant  Episcopacy  and  Methodism  were  how- 
ever increasing,  and  Popery  had  now  three  chapels  in 
Boston,  beside  foundations  in  many  other  New  England 
cities  and  towns. 


! 


IN   NEW  ENGLAND. 


357 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


18 13-68 — Marked  clianpos  appear — Enterprise — Scotland  aiid  New  Eng- 
land— Watt,  Morse — Tlie  fartory  and  its  siirroinulin;^s — Thomnun- 
ville — First  company — Worsliippeil  at  Knfield — Mitchell — A  huild- 
\nfr  for  school  and  church — Supplied  hy  Professors  until  IS.'JS — Home 
Missionary  society — KHi)rt»  to  sustain  ordinances — All  l»ul  two  for 
Presbyterian  orj^anization — Kev.  Dr.  Harvey — A  }j;o(h1  thing  out  of 
Nazareth — Kiglity-two  mend)ers — Eirsl  Presbyterian  Church  in  Con- 
necticut, excepting  Voluntown — ('ar|)et  company  built!  a  house  for 
them — "Customs"  and  the  town  of  Herkeley  men — Old  School  organ 
— Instruments — The  choir — Above  four  hundred  dollars  of  the  salary 
moved  out — Meetings — A  society — An  organization  asked — (Jranted 
— KH'ected — "A  peculiar  people" — Kev.  W.  McLaren — Tears — Now 
the  scene  was  reversed — Kev.  P.  (lordon — A  rare  class  of  operatives — 
Within  one  year — A  i>astor  settled — The  Carpet  company  failed — 
Gordon  resigned— Ti»e  brea<l  of  life — McLaughlin — Spiritual  condi- 
tion good — He  returned  to  Ireland — Kev.  J.  M.  Heron — His  pastorate 
— Sccessicm — Men  left — lie  resigned — They  called  others — An  elo- 
quent deception — Pirnuiess  of  the  congregation — Rev.  Li.  M.  Hall 
called — Four  and  a  half  years — Kesigned — Boston — The  name  ex- 
tinct for  seventeen  years — A  Scotch  preaching — March  Gtli — May 
20th — On  the  seventeenth  application  for  a  hall  was  successful — The 
Mount  Zion — He  awoke  to  zeal — "  We  are  not  informed  " — Men  of 
distinction — Others — Vice  increasing — Kneeland,  Kallou,  Parker — 
I'liitarians — IJut  three  families — A  "Derry"  girl — A  "lassie" — A 
case  I  mention — "  You  can  never  be  my  minister" — The  pr»;judice  of 
race — The  Mull  of  Kintyre — Fairhead— Each  aimed  to  have  » 
|)reacher — The  pioneers — "Preaching  as  liigh  as  the  top  of  the  State 
House"— "Out  West"— The  Scot  hehl  at  bay— "Conflict  of  ages"— 
Invoked  in  vain — The  jiioneer  in  his  work — Mr.  .lohn  Fisher  fleshy 
and  "lli'shly" — The  pioneer  installe<l — To  go  into  the  highways — 
Years  of  prosperity — An  exotic — A  change — Friction  must  ensue — 
Divisions  lowered  the  standard  of  discipline — He  sought  relief — 
Events  roncurrcd — One  man  full  of  zeal — He  left — .V  minister  com- 
ing—The  church  prospiTcd  till  s«cession  came — I'liion — I'nited  Pres- 
byterian (  luirch — An  episode — Our  holy  and  beautifid  house — An 
ominous  silence— Could  not  be  sold — "Obi  Harry"  Adams — protein 
— You  could  not  make  a  better  dee<l — Dejure  till  now — Little — Hene- 
ficiaries  bound  to  prevent  the  ju-rversion  of  the  trust — The  oath — AVe 
entered  suit — No  range  of  equity — Attorney — Appointed — A  surprise 
—They  concealed  the  "  Memoir  " — Records  of  Session — This  religious 


!|| 


» 


VK     1 
if. 


858 


HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


Jl- 


society — Tvocords  did  iJomc  of  tlieni  no  honor — Sent  to  tlie  li,e;lit — Car- 
rvin;^  rtrunls  across  tlif  strtrl— Awry  shapes — Atli(hivit — Ah  takm 
very  mild  and  sale — "  Tnitli  in  a  iiorii" — Mr.  Choate — A  most  elab- 
orate ease — Shaw's  hold — Metealf — Oiilra^'ed — This  was  no— (1  'i'iin. 
ii.  5) — His  lo^ic — lUasphemy — Tiie  decision  stirred  up  eoiisi  iiruM — 
Too  stnmj^  lur  justice — An  intolerant  spe»'ies  ol"  ileism — A  reiiiii.int — 
The  occupants  did  not  fully  suppose  tluy  owned —They  invoUnl  the 
Legislature — The  society  worth  $"J2,0UU,0(H)— liegan  to  think -And 
they  now  paused — This  could  not  he  done — May  loth,  IS').") — Out  ut" 
love  and  fear  they  spent  $1,700.  on  repairs — What  ('.  Cusliiiig  said 
— Oh,  how  1  woidd  like — The  decision  has  no  etpial  on  tins  continent 
— A  technical  <piihbk' — The  restriction — One-liftysixth  jiart  of  its 
value — They  refused  to  take  T'nitarian  money — 'I'lie  auctioneer's  (if- 
lice — A  protest — A  group  for  I'unc  h — No  sale,  no  pay  —  1"J(I  laniilies 
— Kespectahle  — I>ought  ilamaged — lit  plication — Review — i>ill  to  hill 
— Filed- — Waited  long — I'rinteil— A  sworn  oliicial  — Never  to  have 
been  tiled — A  contrast -Prohyterians  should  pray — A  shaky  thing  — 
The  result  hchtre  the  National  Court  would  have  been  dilleicnt  — l)r. 
Lothrop — I)id  not  desist — Might '*  lay  judgment  to  llie  line" — "An 
unco  s(piad  " — "  lA-ave  to  withdraw '' — A  plea — Oltlained  the  same 
consideration  and  courtesy — This  jiioneer  church  prospered — Preach- 
ing— Week-day  services  and  the  I'ress  —  l']iglity-six  reviews — Mc(  ice 
— Phillips — Asso.  Kif )rmed  and  Tnited  Presbyterian — Fall  liiver — A 
high  jxisition — Operatives — To  them  the  Associate  Presbytery  of 
Albany  sent  supply — I'haunccy  Welister — Kev.  II.  II.  IJlair — 1.S3G — 
Two  elders  chosen — Rev.  ]>.  Oonltm — Associate  Presbytery  of  Nt'W 
York  gave  supplies  till  l.s4i' — I'onnnercial  depression  of  1837 — Un- 
able to  sustain— Their  c;i-e  tor  five  years  not  known — Kev.  J.  R.  Daks 
visited  them  in  IShi — Rev.  Andrew  Johnston  organized  them  as 
Associate  Reformed — No  preaclu  rs  to  supply — Kev.  Wm.  McLaren— 
liuilt — Every  shingle  mortgaged  —  Rev.  T.  (J.  Carver — Called  January, 
181'J — Kxcliange  their  house — lJel>t,  hopes  ami  energies  increased — 
Carver  preaelu'd  "another  gospol  " — Coidd  not  save  hearers — With- 
ered rapiiilv  —  Went  intorni ally  in  lcS4'.>  to  the  Methodist  Kpiscoind 
church — The  church  in  1S")0  in  an  encouraging  position — Rev.  I).  A. 
AVallace — Installed — Energy,  diligence  and  faithlnlness — Perhaps  a 
"pent-up  I'tica  "  —  Removed  by  Prcsbyt»ry  to  East  I'mston  in  18')4— 
Kev.  Wm.  McLaren  installed — .\  ripe  scholar — \  superior  llel)raist 
— A  ter.«e  speaker — His  sermons  good — .V  jiastcu'ate  of  nearly  twelve 
years — Keasons  lor  resigning — Kev.  J.  -K.  Kyle  installed,  June, 
181J7 — Progressive  sjjirit  of  the  age — Imbued  with  it — Continued 
until  ISlo—Pn/viihticf  —  Successful  industries — May,  1818,  com- 
menced collecting  a  church — OHi(Mal  acts — Organization  August  l(iili 
— Supplies  defective — A  change  of  connection — Dr.  Skinner — Riv. 
Jos.  SanderM)n — ''Foolish  jesting" — Delilah  won — A  development 
not  of  early  New  England  training — Separation  came — Rev.  Mr. 
MctJauchy — He  deceived  them — Returned  and  made  trouble — Left 
the  denomination,  but  still  made  strife — Years  of  confusion — TheV 
ap|)lied  to  the  Asnociate  Keformed  Presbytery — Connnittee  to  inquire 
— The  way  not  clear — Application  renewed  in  1857— Committee  of 


A,t 


m^ 


IN    NEW    ENGLAND. 


359 


inf|iury — Petition  not  priintod  —  Rov.  A.  Thomas — Remodelled — Came 
to  I^acliiiie,  tlii'iuc  to  lidstnn- -Served  in  I'lovidniiv  tor  two  yearn — 
Alter  till'  uiiioii  on  May  'HUU,  ls,'»,S.  order  was  n-stored — Slatonientrt 
ofa  icadtr  in  tlie  clnircli — Tin- vcneralilr  iuv.  I)r.  A.  Heron,  a  liealer 
ol'  tlu'ir  divisions  !)((•(  inlitr  "itli,  ls">'.».  Mr.  Jolin  ('.  ll(»lili  cnliid — 
C)rdainfd  and  insialicd  April  li7lli,  1S(»(»  — i)isnii>sid  liy  I'rtshytery 
January  U'Jtl,  1871  — I'ri'sltytory  eonstitnled  in  ISVI— Twfnty-one 
ministers  l)(.don;;('<l  to  it  in  t'onrlcen  years — Loire// — Mareii  'JOtli,  1S")() 
— Till"  dance — The  pioru'er  and  llif  watilirnan  —  I'nl>iir  worship  Ih^juii 

—  Dcei-mher  Isl — Organize*! — (Jordori  ealltd — \'ain  talkinj; — A  rural 
home — I'nder  eonllictin;;  wmsirainls  he  returned  the  call,  went  to 
Ausiraliii  and  returned — W.  McMillan  — llis  sense  of  otHcial  duly 
detictivt — An  illustration — He  lelt— No  condensed  spiritual  vitality 
atlainaltle — Tendency  of  events — A.  ( '.  Junkin — Coinniercial  doj)res- 
sion  in  IK07 — Released — "Owinjj  to  the  times" — No  other  settlement 
before  IStJS  — 7ffH»/i»n — Supplies — One  man— Removed — I)iseontinued 

—  Il'ilynkr — Supplied  ahove  a  year— Trans  atlantic  leelitiK  ot"  sect 
split  them,  and  Holyoke  was  dis(  (intinued — Kttsl  Jionltni  —  Noddle — 
In  l.S-t7  active  industry  there— The  wits — April,  l^'»'A,  a  station — 
Rev.  I).  A.  Wallace  in  lH"t4  pastor — Attentive — His  theidoyy  of  New 
flnuland — Encomium  —  IS")')  a  hoiisu  in  hiuidin^i — Opt-ned — Chosen 
to  l)e  I'residL'iit  of  Monmoinh  ( 'olh-ye— Leaves — Rev.  H.  H.  John- 
ston—  He  was  jjiven  to  chan;,'e — Took  the  property  away  trom  the 
Associate  Retonued  church— iKstroyed  much  poo<i,  and  went  to  the 
Dutch — .V  new  element  introduced  —  Kllervescetice  liolter> — They  and 
the  I'orMur  iVayiuents  unite — ( Jrtraiiized  —  Rev.  (i.  M.Hall  installed 
April  17tli,  iSi).").  till  Hecendier  liilih,  1>«)7 — Lawnuicf—lu  IS."):}  in- 
corporated— The"scuil" — How  coiinnenceil — A.  Mt-Williams — Retail 
on  Jidy  'Jil,  1S">1  —  Rev.  S.  !•'.  'llionipson  pa>lor  I'rom  Auiiusl  7th, 
is.").'),  till  .January  2!)tii,  1S")7 — ronimeieial  de|)res»jion — .la-.  Dinsmore 
from  Octoher  ISth,  ]S')'J,  till  September  loth,  iMi:}— Their  religions 
interests  now  sud'ered,  and  I'reshyttiy  ilis.-olved  the  coiii;re;jation — 
Jlnrt/orH,  C'onnectieut — Supplied  after  Kehrunry  2M,  iN'Jli— Organi- 
zation ninety-four  persons  on  May  (ith — Rev.  W.  M.  ('Iayl)auf,di  in- 
stalled April  30tli,  IStJo— Resigned  .lainiary  Slh,  1S»>.")— Rev.  J.  M. 
Heron  installed  Jamiary  17th,  IStJli — Hy  fever  lo.st  his  voice — Rela- 
tion lernnnaled  December  yist,  ISO" — .V(<«//i  7/ii.s<ou— ( iathered  by  a 
prayrr-meelinj; — A  station  opened  on  October  9th,  ISdl— Rev.  W.  M. 
(.'iiiybaiifrh  settled — He  wanted  "  more  liberty '" — Dismissed  December 
2(Jth,  lSt)7 — \Vilkiii»i)nviUi: — Operatives — .\sk  and  ol)tain  supply  be- 
fore IS.JS — Dernj — Death  of  Rev.  Mr.  I'arker — Their  }:ood  order — 
I'risbytery  disappointed — Derry  only  "a  parish' — "Half  and  half" 

—  Ickuhoil — Loiuliiuilirry — Pastors — .V  basis  of  aid— Krint — IMnker- 
ton's  (gravestone — ( '()n>,Mejiation  I'resbyterian — The  pastor's  choice — 
Deviates — Families — Di-votion  iti  them— Ditlerent  in  the  church — 
Daua  saw  a  Psalter  in  the  pulpit — .\ndovtT  to  te.ach  the  New  Kng- 
laiid  primer — L'haiiires  of  |»astors — 'J'lie  pulpit  losing,'  eHiciency — 
Causes — Hood — Ap|)endix — Hearers  of  four  classes— A  modern  inno- 
vation— Charles  II. — Pilgrims — Edwards — Watts — Modes — Antrim — 
Two  ministers — Dr.  Whiton  genial — Rev.  Mr.  liate.s — His  organ  and 


360 


IIISTOIIY  OP   PRESnYTKllIANI.SM 


revival — It  ahaforl — Ili^  doatli — WtndlnDn — llcv.  I.ann  Tli.iypr  — 
Faithful — IIi-<  ministrv  — /)V'//>*n/ — Ht-y.  Tlio-;.  Snvn^c  —  A  Imit;  |i,m. 
torale — I'rfnhnni — Kt-v.  .).  K.  Frciu'li  disniisscii  in  IS  I7-- Itrv.  A. 
J^aiiil)  ordairu'ti  .Inly  i4tli,  lSt7 — 170 — A  iiiiiiilKr  wi'iv  disiiiisini  liv 
letter  in  IS'il — iMirnied  a  ('(in>;ri'j;alional  "  Hdricty  " — Lanili  disniis^i  II 
in  18')U — lioll  down  to  sixty-scviii,  and  no  ]>:\Mi>r  -SivlmnjpDit  — 
DiiriiiK  this  (iiiartiT  both  conj^n-Kations  enjoy  ordinanci-H — First 
(■Inirch  —  Kev.  J.  F.  Stearnn — lli«  early  history — Ordained  Se|itendH  r 
llitli,  183") — After  years  aeeepted  a  call  to  Newark,  N.  J.  — iJiv. 
Jus.  (iallaher  a  )«ii})|)ly— Rev.  A.  (r.  V'erniilyea — May  1st,  iS'iO— He, 
as  well  as  Dr.  Stearns,  was  a  faithfid  i)a-.t(ir — Increase— (Vntiiinial 
coinnieniorations — |{uildin>?  rededieated — Dr.  I)ana  "  snyyrsled  a  tt  w 
tlioiights  as  to  the  proper  manner  of  preaching  and  hearin>;  the  j^o-- 
pel  " — Siieeeeded  hy  other  previous  pa>tors — Pr(pudtit  looUini,'  at  tliu 
tornl)  of  Whitefield,  said:  '"Aineriea  well  entitle<l  to  his  nniains  "  — 
V'erinilyea,  after  thirteen  years,  dismissed — Of  the  ei^;hth  pastor,  Kev. 
K.  II.  Kiehardson,  we  know  hut  little — /Sfrnud  cltineh — A  human 
change — Dana's  opponents  heeame  his  friend«,  and  eall  him — The  la- 
bors of  his  riper  years  not  lo-.t  on  a  wiHin;,'  peoph — He  was  ^rnat 
among  Christians,  and  aeeepted  of  his  brethren — Ills  pen  not  idle  - 
To  him  the  truth  was  j)reeious — A  remonstrance  foreii)le,  hut  lost  on 
Helf-8ufficiency — A  perversion  of  trust — .Alter  eij,'hty-ei)^'ht  years  and 
one  month  on  earth,  "he  fell  asleep" — A  suecesM)r  to  .such  an  one 
obtained— The  Kev.  W.  W.  lu-Us— Instalhd  July  Nth,  ISKl-A 
Rpecinien  of  his  way  of  "handling  the  wonl  of  (iod" — In  this  wi-  sie 
the  man — His  teachings  no  verified  that  he  was  released  on  April  lilst, 
1855 — Rev.  H.  R.  Timlow,  December  3Uth,  185(5 — Pastorates  j^rowini; 
shorter — Tiie  character  and  results  of  his  labor  we  can  oidy  inter,  as 
the  records  of  Presbytery  are  lost — April '21.-t,  IS")!),  dismissed — Suc- 
ceeded June  (Jth,  ISOO,  by  Kev.  Jas.  CruiUsli.inks — Preachins? 
"another gospel"  in  the  pulpit  of  Dana  and  Kdls,  his  stay  was  short — 
Dismissed  August  1st,  iSti'J — In  his  best  estate  in  New  Kngland  he  was 
only  "a   foreigner" — Those  tietached  sojourn  where  they  can  tind  a 

()lace,  and  in  modern  light  from  twelve  to  lifty-two  can<li<lates  may  lie 
leard  in  one  year — The  Rev.  B.  Y.  (icorge  installed  April  *27th,  ISO! 
— Cause  of  removal  on  Sipteml)er  2tJlh,  ISOtJ,  miknown — The  Kcv. 
Jas.  (i.  Johnston  succeeded  him  in  three  months,  and  was  dis- 
missed Septend>er  22d,  lS(i8 — husl  Huston — We  have  seen  the  origin 
of  this  church  bv  Rev.  J  I.  II.  Johnston  anil  a  societv  in  1858 — Tin; 
Kev.  T.  N.  Haskell  settled  December  \k\,  ISb'i— This  new  mail 
comitig  to  Presbyterianism  gathered  some  new  people — ^How  eHicitiii 
he  was  as  a  pastor  we  know  not,  but  he  resigned  on  October  "Jod,  ISOtj 
— The  Rev.  M.  \.  Dei)Ue  was  installed  on  .Inly  11th,  lS(i7,  and  n- 
signed  July  I'Jth,  IStj'J — lioMnn  in-npcr—'Vhc  Kev.  A.  S.  Muirarriv.d 
December  D,  ISoM — He  was  intensily  Scotch,  even  to  the  I'salins  and 
paraphrases — Man  n)illinery — "  He  received  "  a  call,  but  many  |iersoiis 
lost  confidence  in  him;  it  was  not  unanimous,  and  he  went  to  Scot- 
land— The  ordination  of  elders  by  him,  the  Presbytery  of  Halifay  d>- 
clared  to  be  unauthorized,  irregular  and  void — A  youjig  man,  Ross, 
supplied  a  year — The  audience  dwindled — In  June,  1856,  congrcga- 


1 


IN    NEW  ENOLAND. 


361 


linn  voted  to  iinito  with  tlio  Pro^hvtorv  of  Montroal — Ctoml  siipplitw 
jrivrn— The  lU'V.  Wm.  Mcl^aivti  ciiIUmI  .Inly  'J^d,  ls:.7  — K.'v.  Mr. 
McLanMi  was  iiistalU'il  mid  rt'iiiaiiicd  till  Nnvfiiilii  r  "JSili.  iS'tS 
Tia- spirit  i»r  till'  tiiiiiM  now  aitiiatiii«  tliis  |if(i|iK',  and  llu'v  miihi 
liavi'  a  Kailocli  or  a  Stont — Tlii-y  iiniti'  lU'ceiidiiT  1st,  l.S')S,  willi 
I.oinlondirrv  I'n  sliyti  ry — licv.  havid  .Mas^'ill  invitfd  -  lit-  put  away 
'■  Uoiisf"  —  Installed  over  a  society  on  .lidy  1  llli,  IS.",}),  and  on  Mareii 
'Jiltli,  1S()(),  his  chnnli  was  or;:ani/.«'d  hy  the  install.ition  ol'two  chh-rH 

—  IkMch  strt'ot  clinrth  hout^lit  1  ticcnilur,  l.S.'iH — lint  lucould  not  raise 
till'  money  and  rtsiu'ned  and  preachid  his  last  sernioti  lliore  on  Si-p- 
i.nditT  Mill,  ISC.I  —  Till'  KfV.  11.  M.  I'ainlir  snpplitd  a  part  ol  ISd'J — 
ill  V.  it.  A.  l)iL;iiiey  .ils.i  till  OctoiRr  U.iil,  \»(]\  fnited  then  with 
Oak  s  r»'et  ('on;;rei;ational  <'lnireli.  and  liev.  Mr.  I'ixhy  eaine  with 
IM)  nuinlier»,  and  wm>  pa-tor  till  (K-tohcr  1st,  l.sHt! — They  were  then 
Mippiii'tl  Inr  two  vrars — '['linmiw»irHh\  (t. — 'I'ln  iniddh- ot' the  ii'ntnry 

—  Lalior  savin;;  niaeliintry—  I'll  enlerprisi — Scotland  and  New  V.\\\i- 
land  e.xttnsivtiy  coven  d  with  laetories — iJr.  l>onis  (.  larke-  Watt  and 
Morse — Whitney — .Vronnd  the  lai-lory  a  villaue  must  spring  up — 
Thoinpsiinvillc  in  ls2S--( 'arpct  company  —  I, ahor,  skill  and  int«'«rity 

—  An  a>,'ent  'cnt  to  Scotland — First  company  religions,  and  appreciatetl 
the  uieanH  of  ^niee — Anarehy  and  despotism — The  IJev.  .Mr.  Kohhinn 
in  Knlicld — In  1>>:>1,  .Mr.  .Mitcliill,  a  Scotchman— In  iSIil  a  hniltlintr 
— I'lolt  ssors -.npplicd  them  till  ISMS  —  .\ppiied  lor  aid-.\nd   rc'hised 

-Kedouliiiil  tluir  etilirts-  l)r.  ilarvey  now  jireaclied  to  them — They 
wonld  not  adopt  liis  polity — All  lint  two  lor  rre^hyitriatdsm — ()ry'ani- 
zation — Kij,dity-two  enrolled — This  the  lirst  exeepliny  Vuhintown— 
House  hnill  liy  ihe  company-  They  <iccnpied  it  tree,  luitdid  notohtain 
a  liil'l  ol'  it — The  pa-tor  a  scholar  -The  uioinidwork  of  his  preachinj^ 
— Three  sermon^ — On  the  trne  hasis  of  I'ellowship— Dr.  Tyler  criti- 
cised hy  him  —  Keleased— luv.  ('.  W.  Adams,  I).  1). —  l)eeeinher, 
18'j7 — Not  like  lloiden,  Massatihiisetts,  ^e«'kinp;  a  jia^tor  for  nine 
years  hy  hearing  li-10  candidates— Such  a  caxin<,'-stock — I)r.  Adams 
dismissetl — ihe  company  failed — tiood  intentions  nnfnllilled — No 
work  for  twoyears — Yet  prayt-rantl  dt 
cesstid — They    prospered — Turijj'cilU- 

eoiistitnled  T'resliytery  of  Comieeiient  erecte(l  Oetolier  15th,  ISoO^ 
Seven  niini-ters  c(impo-ied  it--  IJev.  11.  <  i.  Thomp-on,  of  Turitlville;  one 
— Failiir*'  in  Taritiville  prostrated  this  place — Operatives  could  no 
lonijer  sustain  ordiminces — t'hwreh  lu'cjiine  e,\tiiiit — Ilartjord — In 
.Imie,  IS.'il,  Uev.  .James  illy  ((jnuneneed  tlu-re — Kly  staled  supply — 
-Mr.  riioiiiK  S.  (hil.ls  applied  to  -Came  to  tlu'm  —  From  Ireland  and 
Scotland — Karnest  ('liri-tiiins — Childs  settled   here — An  or^'anizatioii 

—  I'Pper  room  —  .\  church  edilice — 'I'lie  pastor  has  to  saeriliee  most  — 
So  lure — Ordained  .June  llOih,  ISVJ — .\  biinlen  on  the  pastor  for  sev- 
eral years— Hail  to  advance  all  his  ,-alary  unci — ■"Secular"  —  I'resliy- 
tirian  ministers  have  to  do  this  in  New  iMiuland  often — His  health 
failetl — He  preached  the  yuspel  with  niajesly  -liad  to  leavu  ii  dehl — 
lI5i)  persons  received  hy  him — Took  care  of  the  youth — .\ide<l  men  to 
enter  the  niitdstry — The  customs  of  the  churches  overtook  him — 
When  an  instrument  was  employed  thirty  or  forty  withdrew — He  be- 


work  for  twoyears — Yet  pr.'iyerand  determination  imtlerliud  were  suc- 
prospered — Turijj'cilU-  —Operations    there — \    ehnreh 


ll 


*f   i 


wm 


m 


3G2 


IIISTOKY   OF   I'KESBVTEHIAXISM 


('!\mo  n  thpolofrlcal  profonsor — Rpv.  T.  A.  TTfirlcfo  instnllod  "Sidy  2'1, 
lst;(i  -"Till'  a^'i-'  lKHoiiiiii«  iii.iti'rial — An  aii.K'liroiiisiii — Had  now 
a  i»lain  briik  iMiildinj? — Mrs.  J.  W.'n  odor — IW'uk  biiildiiij^  sold — 
A  IK'W  cIiuihI — So  nuuh  lor  sixti-t'ii  yiars  -  .AVic  Ilayfii — A  clmnli 
rcctivi'd — I'iiLts  not  llio  iiu-ans  to  know — 'Iran^linvd  in  li(i|n' — \'.\- 
tinrt — Till!  sanii'  may  l>c  sftid  of  /Acy)  llliwr — ()ri,'ani/.i'd  in  IS.V; — 
iSlmnford  orKanizi'il  Filiriiary  litllli,  IS."»;> — Its  Pastors— />Vi(/(/(y)(/)/ 
Ocloiii-r  KUii,  l.S.");5 — lOijilitytwo  willidrtnv — Ktci'ivi'd  l»y  I'ri'siiytiry 
ut'Ni'W  Y(trk  —  [)r.  Ihwilt — Hinsdale  his  associati — Clniroli  didicainl 
An^Mist  Hill,  IS").')-  Iliinit  — Kfliuill  — Novciiihcr  Itli,  \H{')'.\—l>(irlni — 
Its  lirst  pastor  inslalird  Manli  4lli,  ISdt— In  ollice  in  lSt;S-lii 
J{ri<li/('i>orl — A  (iiriiian  I'lTshyti-rian  iluircli  organizi'd  in  iStio — In  a 
fi'W  vi-arsiliHiiiissid  to  join  the  ( iorniaii  Kel'onued — yeuliuslon — ICtv. 
K.  IJ.  Allen  was  calli'ii  in  l8o;{. 


P<1 


As,  (Inrinj::  tin*  last  <]ii!irtor  of  ;i  rontury,  the  doctrino, 
^..vcrmncnt,  nnd  iiriiicii)lt"S  (cxrojitin;!;  the  force  of  chiir- 
uoter  tmnsmissilile  through  them  from  one  jieiu^rntioii  to 
another,  by  tlu;  coiumoii  laws  of  our  nature),  which  made 
ohl  Derry,  for  ahove  ii  ecnttiry,  a  praise  timonj^'  the 
(•hureheH,  were  fading,  so,  during  this  one,  they  passed 
into  oblivion. 

The  "  inod(^l  pastor."  the  Kcv.  Edward  T.utwyehe  Par- 
ker, ordained  Scptcinlier  Tith,  ISIO,  was  on  Salilitith,  July 
14th,  1851),  ealled  to  his  reward.  In  viewing  his  congre- 
gation he  liad  reason  to  rejoiei'.  It  contained  nearly  tour 
liundred  families.  Tlieir  "good  order,  intelligence,  solid 
religious  character,  harmony,  8teady  jtrognss,  and  the 
'  luimher  of  youth  they  educated  anil  sent  t'orth  to  useful 
jind  honorahh^  stations,  were  hardly  excelled  by  any  other 
town  in  New  lOngland." 

On  the  17th,  amidst  sorrowing  thousands,  hi.s  remains 
were  deposited  with  the  dust  of  his  live  ecchvijwtictd  pre- 
decessors. The  Presbytery  supi)o:»e(l  that  they  stood  in  a 
relation  and  had  duty  to  jxM-fonu  to  this  old  mother 
church  of  "th(»  oppressed  Irish  brethren,"  and  were  soon 
duly  notified.  JUit  they  found  that  she  had  hiken  counsel 
"in  the  plain  of  Ono,"  and  renomieed  tliwir  authority. 
About  ]7*to.  at  tl;e  settlement  of  .\ir.  llrown,  "  the  indi- 
viduals who  oppos(>d  ■'  rresbylerianipm  withdrew,  "and 
Were  incorporated  iks  ji  Congregational  society." 

"  In  \H{)\)  each  society  modilied  some  of  it^  peculiarities 
in  resijcct  to  church  government,"  to  a  kind  of''  hidl-and- 
lialf,"  and  were  by  an  act  of  the  legislature  incorporated 


WW 


IF 


IN   NEW   ENGLAND. 


3G3 


as  tho"  First  Parish  of  Tiondondcrrv."  And  now,  altliouudi 
eleven  rulinu'  elders  were  olliejally  in  cliar^'e  (»!"  the  eliureli, 
as  was  sup|ti.sed,  under  I'resWytery,  yel  they  relused  alle- 
giance to  the  court,  which  was  confronted  hy  the  Kev. 
I'rof.  Park  from  Andover,  who  sent  to  them  and  had  set- 
tled over  them  one  of  his  students,  the  Kev.  .1.  W.  Well- 
man.  As  has  been  noticed,  they  having;  existed  as  a 
I'reshyterian  (dnircli  for  l.'JO  years,  wero  now  shunted  oil" 
on  the  tlu'oloMrieal  schemes,  usages  and  customs  of  New 
England  —  Irlmhod. 

At  the  heginning  of  tliis  quarter  of  a  century,  the  Rev. 
Timothv  G.  Hrainard  was  pastor  in  Linulondfrri/.  Ho 
faithfully  occupied  the  position  till  April  ■_'")th.  In")'),  and 
was.  on  October  7th.  ISoT.  succeeded  hy  the  Ivev.  William 
House,  whom  we  find  in  the  pastorate  there  in  iSliS. 

Its  (h'st  pastor  was  so  "steadfast  in  the  faith,"  that,  not 
])y  a  governor,  a  |>resident,  trustees.  minist<'rs,  nor  hy  tho 
rash  itself,  could  he  he  induced  to  remove  to  tlu*  liynni 
au<l  imitation  singers  in  New  ^'orU. 

At  that  time  the  i)astoral  relation  was  not  placed  on 
wliccls.  to  he  sunnnoned  elsewhere;  ])y  a  '"louder  call,'' 
anti  those  sacred  feelings,  hetween  pastor  and  peojile,  sur- 
jiassed  oidy  in  the  family  and  hy  a  hlood-rclation,  were 
cherished  as  anioiiu'  the  most  precious  fruits  of  tlu'  gospel. 
This  will  he  discoveretl  wherever  families  "sing  psalms  to 
(iod  with  gract;  and  make  a  joyful  noise  morning  and 
eveniiej;."  Their  pastor  may  not  always  he  the  foremost 
man  in  all  th(>  earth,  l)Ut  he  is  "our  minister "  while  he 
can  say  "  I  "  dwell  among  my  own  people,  So  it  was 
with  th(^  Ilev.  David  >h'(iregor  and  his  congregation. 

The  sanie  was  true  of  their  second  pastor,  so  long  as  he 
(lid  not  deviate  from  his  ordination  vows.  P>ut  when  he 
not  oidy  le(l  his  Presl)ytery  into  a  ''coalescence''  with 
those  who  hatl  only  come  to  i'rcshyterianism  as  an  expe- 
dient; hut  also,  in  IT'.Hi,  to  his  Syno('i  attempted  to  vindi- 
cate the  conduct  ol'  his  co-|ireshyters,  stating,  that  ex- 
pediency should  outweigh  the  duty  of  going  up  to  the 
a.-sendiled  elders  alter  apostolic  example,  his  ndnisti'rial 
etlieiency  was  n..i  inercaseil,  and  while  the  llame  of  di\  inc 
t^oiig  still  ascemled  morning  and  evening  from  "the  dwell- 
ings of  the  righteous "' undt-r  his  charge,  he  and  his  Hock 
became   increasingly  assimihitcd   to  their  surroundings. 


iri! 


nr,i 


HISTORY   or    PIlKSnYTKUIANISM 


ir  Um'V  snn;^  as  fiiniilifs  at  all,  after  tlic  manner  (if  tlnir 
lorcl'atlicrs  at  "  W'rst  Kimniiijr-i»ro()k/'  it  must  lie  in  IIk; 
sauM!  wonls,  lor  "  imitations"  anil  iniiiis|»ir<<l  liynms, 
wiicntivcr  and  vvlicrcvcr  introdnccd  into  clinrrlics,  pru- 
(Incc  "  cxprt  ssivc  siN-nc*' "  in  lionscliolds.  In  the  dnnili 
it  was  dilif-rcnt.  y\ll  the  vari<'d  aruMnncnts  used  by  tlioM' 
aronnd  tlimi  and  l»y  tin-  clnnvli  connrils  with  whom  tiny 
associated,  wonid  constrain  them  to  chMn;.'c  the  lire  npun 
the  altar.  Hence,  when  his  sncccssor  was  ir.dncted,  he 
"found  a  copy  of  the  j'salms  in  the  piil|)it,''  hut  hy  him- 
Helf  <  he  said  I  they  had  never  heeii  used. 

As  the  seminary  at  Andover,  .Mass.,  was  eonnneuced  du 
the  theo|o«iy  of  the  New  l']n;;land  Trinier,  and  as  the  pro- 
fiJKSors  solenndy  vowed,  or  swore  to  te;ich  only  its  (loc- 
trines;  so,  anion;;  I'reshyterians,  ohl.iininvi^  one  of  its 
j^raduatf'S  fer  a  pastor  was,  for  years,  con-^idcred  no  dis- 
respect to  j'rinceton,  \.  ,).  The  i^morin;;  of  the  tc.icli- 
\u^H  of  the  catt'chisin,  however,  produced  re;d  results,  not 
only  iiy  the  introdtidiou  of  "  divers  and  stran^^^e  doctrines," 
but  hy  its  inlluencus  on  the  |>astoral  relation. 

Jlence,  we  see  that  thi'  lirst  two  (the  i'resityterian  )  pas- 
torates, e.x  tend  inir  fi'om  17.'>()till  l.slS,  were  lon;/er  in  dura- 
lion  than  the  last  six,  from  ISJ'J  till  1S7'.),  hy  ;i  (pmrter  of 
a  centtuT,  while  the  years,  in  which  this  chinch  was  with- 
out a  pastor  hefon;  the  settlement  of  the  iti'V.  William 
Morrison,  were  six,  and  from  his  death  till  this  date,  l.S!Sl, 


\\v. 


iind 


seventeen  years  ol  destitution. 


of  all  reli^Mous  instrumentalities,  the  piil|iit  has  ^'ained 
tho  li'ast  in  elliciency  in  the  last  lifty  years,  not  hecaiiscj 
faithful,  as  well  as  ^rrandilofpient,  men  lia---e  not  occupied 
it,  hut  perchance,  from  th<'  ell'ei-ts  produced  upon  llie 
family  as  the  trdiiiiiiii-plnn'  for  those  \vh(»  ou;.dit  to  attend 
to  the  preaching  of  tin;  word  "  with  flili^'ence,  preparation 


and  pray«'r. 


I'nder  the  old   rreshvt<'rian,  or  earlv  N 


eu' 


I'aiidaiid  stvle,  hearers  vastlv   more  e\teiisivil\-   received 


tl 


le  word  |>rea( 


•hed 


with  dili;.^encc,  with  preparation,  with 


faith,  with  l(»ve,  with  readiness  of  mind,  and  searched  tlx; 


Scriptures  daily    whether  those  thiiejs    were 
this 


Tl 


lereloie  many  ot 


hem     lie||e\e(| 


so."      .Mark 
As    the    jlev 


Dr.  Tinjothy  l)wi;.iht  informs  us,  '•  for  ahove  seventy  y<'ars, 
the  time  was  onc,«!  in  New  Mn;^land,  that  few  persons  caiiio 
to  the  yearH  of  undt^rstandiu}^  without   professing   their 


IN   NEW   EXfiLAND. 


365 


faitli  in  (!liri.st  Jcsiis."  That  was  in  'tlic  (lays  of  the 
(atcchisin,"  wIhm  tin-  niutlicrs  wen'  tlic  IcaclnTS,  aixl 
wlirii  the  llililc  was  r('a<l  <laily  in  .scImioI  as  well  as  in  tlio 
laiiiily.  'I'licn  tlir  <l\vt||»rs  in  N<-\v  KuL-'land  trrncrally,  as 
lluod  (Hist.  Mu>icj  intoiiiis  n«;.  san;^  tin-  llnnU  •»!'  I'salnis 
throu^di  as  uHcii  uh  "hix  times  in  ji  yrar,'"  in  lioustliold 
worsliip. 

Tlir  inndcrn  ''<Mistonis"  Iiavc  anotli*'!'  indirect  cllcct 
n|iiin  llic  |itd|iit  ;  tiny  |)ri-v<-nt  the-  (inalil'yin^r  oi'  tli<>  ndn<i 
fur  |»ro|M'r  li<-arin^',  just  as  lannly  \V()isld|»  is  ncfrlcctcd. 
Iltaicrs  arc  of  lour  classes,  l»y  the  "wayside,"  «>n  th«; 
"rock  "and  ani<tn'.r  the  "  thorns."  These  do  not  demand 
that  iiill,  thnron-jh  indoctrination  in  laniihes  which  "  tho 
jj;(M)d  ground"  (h»es,  and  in  themselves  they  never  have  it. 

In  order  to  he  |)rolited  individnally,  hearers  must 
'■  hrin<i  lorth  Irnit  with  |tatience,"  they  must,  hy  "  prepara- 
ti<»n,'  have  '"an  honest  and  j;ood  hc.irt."  This  c;in  h»; 
nhtained,  under  the  inllucnn-s  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  only 
where  they  seek  doctrinal  intelli;_rence  and  "ke»p  it," 
'  Lid<e  viii.  I').)  To  teach  such  a  people  and  preach  to 
them  .Jesus  Christ,  is  an  «'a.sy  and  most  pleasant  <iuty, 
while  critical,  fastidious  and  <'arpinj;  hearers,  having  no 
sympathy  with  "the  truth  of  (i(»d,"  will  send  a  s|tiritual 
chill  ijit(»  the  heart,  and  frost  itself  into  the  lips  of  him 
whose  (on^u<'  shoidd  he  as  "the  pen  of  a  ready  writer." 

Hence,  the  temptati«»n  to  "prophesy  smooth  thin;rs," 
to  please,  to  he  |to|tular,  is  too  j:reat  oftentimes  lor  un- 
sanctilie<l  Innnan  nature.  The  "Spirit  is  ^rievcil  "  hy  tin! 
unfaithfidness  of  tin;  occupants,  even  while  the;  pulpit 
jtrofesses  to  "  not  shun  to  declare  the  whole  c(»unsel  of 
(jod."  When  "standing  between  tin'  livinj^  and  the  dead," 
HO  lon^;,  as  the  messen^'i  r  of  (lod  is  constraine<|  hy  any 
torc(!  or  !nlluenc(;  to  please  men.  his  "doctrine  cainiot 
dntp  as  tin-  rain,  nor  his  spee(;)i  distil  as  the  «lew." 

Amonif  the  modern  "  us.-ijies  "  which  deteriorate  the  ]»u]- 
pit,  is  the  suhstitulion  ot'  readin;^  for  preachini,'.  "  I'reacli 
the  ;^os|»el  t(»  every  creature  "  is  ol  heaven.  It  has  l«'<'n  in 
every  a^M',  and  must  <-ontinue  to  he,  the  princijuil  instru- 
ment of  salvation.  It  is  noi  only  scriptural,  which  should 
lie  enou^di,  hut  prinuti\e,  used  hy  the  ajiostles  and  re- 
formers, while  readinji  is  entirely  :i  modern  imiovation. 
I'ruhubly  tlic  iirst  record  of  it  tluit  history  iimkus,  is  tho 


li^'!!^;*!:''  ' 


p.   • 


^1 


3G6 


HISTORY   OK    PKi:SHYTi:iUA.\rSM 


f 


ordor  of  Cli;irlos  11.  r<)rl»i(l(lin<,'  it  in  the  llnivorsity  of  Catn- 
liridL't',  <iii  ( )(;t()bL'r  «^Lli,  HJ?  I, '"as  ;•.  si!|>iiir  mikI  slnihrul  wav 
of  prcacliiiii^." 

"TIk;  ril^M-im  Fathers  " 'icvcr  rcatl  llicjr  smnitns.  \\f 
first  hear  of  it  in  New  lvi^'lan<l  in  17<>S,  ap.il  "  altlioii;:li 
JOduanls  read  his  Sfniioiis,  he  livtti  <|t(|ily  to  rc^irct  it, 
and  to  Itcar  his  ti'stimony  a^^ainst  the  uht»h'  |ira('ticc  nf 
th«'  Htcral  reading  of  a  scnnon  lully  written  nut.''  "  l\v 
lool<('(i  upon  usin^  liis  notes  as  u<h'li('i(ncv  and  inlirniity.'" 
Of  it  the  l{cv    Dr.  Isaacs  Watts  snys: 

"  W'licn  a  sermon,  howev-'r  irood,  is  read  to  the  au(nt(>r,s, 
tlioiiudi  read  even  with  eorreetn<'Ss,  it  nniy  in  some  denjic,. 
resemhh'  spealsin*;,  hut,  the  resenddanee  at  hest.  is  taint 
and  (hstant ;  the  tone  is  not  the  natin*al  sound  of  our 
or^^ans  of  speech;  it  is  still,  that  which  we  mujuirnl  wluu 
We  were  learinnj^  to  read,  and  savors  of  coldness  and  lau- 
j^uor.  When  such  a  man  would  reprove  sinni'rs,  he  only 
rrdil-^  to  them  a  chidin;,';  when  he  would  pluek  them  as 
brands  from  the  hurniiiii,  he  mnJ.^  to  them  some  wi>rds  of 
j)ity  or  of  terror;  and  if  he  wotdd  lament  ovei-  their  iin- 
])enitenc(;  and  approachin^j;  ruin,  he  can  do  no  Jiiore  than 
rc(i<l  to  them  a  chapter  of  lamentation." 

For  full  writing,  and  committinii  the  whole  sermon  to 
memory,  or  for  thorou<_di  mastery  of  the  suhjcet  and  the 
use  of  a  hrief,  readin<^  is  a  poor  sul>stitute.  It  is  a  loolisli 
kind  of,  hut  not  "the  foolishness  of,  picaehim:.'' 

In  A  III  rim,  N.  II.,  durinL;  this  period  »  1^  h'i  OS  i  tin'  coii- 
jire!j;ation  had  two  ministers.  Their  fiithl'id  pastor,  the 
Kev.  John  M.  Whiton,  I),  D.,  after  a  service  ot'  torty-live 
years,  resigned  Januai'v  1st,  l-S'):!,  and  '■fell  on  slee|(" 
on  Septi'mher  27tli,  1S">(>.  II(Mvas  universally  helovid, 
and  hy  his  peo|»Ie  suppos<'d  to  ho  "as  |)Ure  and  ijooil  as 
this  world  allords."  '*  Slany  of  the  hearers  of  his  last  ser- 
mon were  the  ^grandchildren  of  his  ori-jinal  Hock."  Their 
inherited  t'orce  of  character  remained  with  this  people,  tnr 
they  were  n(»t  yet  "j,dven  to  chanj^e.''  Where  a  man  is 
thus  held  ''liiLihly  in  love  for  his  work's  s.ake,"  his  peoph; 
will,  when  deprived  of  a  faithful  minister,  "  covet  e.arnestly 
the  hi'st  ^dfls."  ( 'onse(|Uently,  t he  l!ev.  .John  II.  liates,  a 
graduate  of  N'ermont  I'niversity,  was  called  and  settled  as 
tiieir  [)astor,  on  the  KUh  daj'  of  March.  ISo.'!. 

"As  a  scholar  his  power  conmianded  general  respect, 


IN    NKW    KN(il.AM). 


307 


CuTn- 
l  wiiy 

\Vr 

ivt   it, 

icf  ol" 

•Ml.' 

inity;' 

iditors, 

(lc;_'l(t' 

s  t'uinl 
of  our 
(/  wlnii 
11(1  \a\\- 
lie  only 
licin  :is 
•onls  ot 
icir  iui- 
Mi'.  lliiiu 

lion  to 
iii.l  tlic 
loolish 

ic  Con- 
or, lilt' 
rtv-livt' 

iclnVfd, 

fooil  as 

ilist  S.T- 

Th<ir 

oj)lf.  for 

iuMU  is 

•iirufslly 

rllU'd  us 

respect, 


Imt  ho  was  loss  soflal  Mian  Dr.  \\'Iiiton.  For  rlovon  yoars 
tilt!  incrciisc  fjiilnj  to  keep  his  nicnihcrsjiii*  to  its  former 
.standing:,  !»m1.  in  I.Stil,  lie  '  a|i|ioinfc(|  ;i  scries  of  moctinu's,' 
aii<l  'hiorctlian  twenty  im  inlicis  \v<ic  ;i<l<l(<l  to  tlicchnrcli.'" 

In  IS'JC),  wlicn  tlicii'  lioiis',-  was  opened,  the  only  musical 
instrument  was  "a  hass  viol,"  hut.  hy  the  exertions  of  Iho 
pastor,  seven  natives  of  the  town  living  elsewhere,  con- 
trihuted  t'unils  enouirli  in  l-S('»l  ti>  procure  an  or;.'an  ;  and 
hardly  had  the  force  of  this  revival  ahate<l,  wIh'U,  on  .hdy 
l-t.  1<S()(1,  Mr.  I»;ites  nsimied,  ;ioiiiu  at  once  to  the  desk  in 
Merrimack;  thence,  soon  aT'cr,  to  Charleston,  S.  C,  wheni 
he  < lied  Miiy  Kith,  1«70. 

\\'iii(lli<im.  'J'he  liev.  [.oren  Thayer  was  ordained  here 
oil  Novemher  oth,  ISI.').  He  was  "faithful  unto  the 
death."  His  ministry  as  their  pastor  ended  on  A|>i-il  'ioth, 
lS(i(>.  lit;  died  of  consumption,  Septeinhcr  IDth,  1^()'.>,,T^ 
f)\  years. 

At  Jirilfnrtl.  The  Hev.  Thotiias  S.-ivatre,  installed  July 
Titii,  IS'JC),  continuetl  to  olliciate  till  IS.")!),  and  afterwards. 

I'«'t(rh<tri).  The  Uev.  .lames  U.  French  was  dismissi^d 
ill  .\pril,  1SI7,  ai\d  the  Rev.  Henry  .1.  Lamb  was  ordained 
«»ii  July  1  Ith,  IS17.  The  numiier  of  menihers  in  iH'td  wa.s 
(Hie  hundred  and  seveiity-live,  hut  many  of  these  hecaim; 
('oni,n*c;^ationali/.ed,  and  during  is.')l  a  nuinher  wen;  «lis- 
iiiissed  hy  letter,  who  or^faiuzed  and  I'ormcil  a  State  society. 
This  "}Zo  to,  let  us''  form  a  ('onLn'et:ational  parish  so 
Weakened  the  rresltyleriau  church,  that  Mr.  Land*  wa.s 
<li>mi.sscd,  Decemher  .'ilst,  l.S')-J.  In  iSoC)  their  roll  was 
nduced  to  sixty -seven  memhers,  and  in  iSo!),  l're:shyt<;- 
riaiiism  hecame  (>xtinct  in  I'eteriioro. 

The  ycirhiii'i/iKirt  churches  eonlinue(|,  (lurinj;  thi.s  rpiar- 
tcr  of  a  century,  to  enjov  the  ordinances  of  the  pos|tel. 
The  Uev.  .Jonathan  V\  Stearns,  a  native  of  IJcclford,  .Mass., 
a  Lrraduate  of  Harvard,  a  student  of  Andover,  and  a  licen- 
tiate of  the  W'ohurn  Ass<»ciati<»n,  was  ordained  and  in- 
f^f;dle(|,  on  Septcmher  lOth,  IS.'*'),  hy  the  Londomlerry 
rreshytery,  in  the  I''irst  church.  After  a  ministry  of  four- 
teen years  there,  he  accepted  a  call  from  the  coiiL'reu'ation 
ol'  Newark,  .N.  .1.  This  pulpit  was  then  for  some  time 
supplied  hy  the  |{ev.  James  (lallaher.  a  revivalist,  not  un- 
known in  the  West,  especially  for  his  "earnestness  and 
Kuoh  a  iiiuss  of  it."     On  May  let,  lUbO,  the  Kev.  Aslibel  G. 


I't 


368 


HISTORY   OF    rUKSHYTKRIANISM 


Vormilyc  was  installed.  He  was  tlic  son  of  the  Hcv.  Dr. 
Vcrniilyc,  of  the  ('oil(';.Matc  Dtilcli  I'cfornicd  churcli  in 
New  York,  and  had  cnjoytd  the  advaiitaucs  of  a  sound 
th('olo;j;i(',il  traiiiiii'T.  He,  a;>  well  as  the  \U\\  .Mr.  Stearns. 
Avas  a  taithlul  pastor.  In  the  lirst  si.\  yeai's  of  his  pastur- 
nte  his  annual  nuinerieal  increase  was  twenty-two,  while 
that  of  Mr.  Steai'ns  was  (ifteen. 

On  Xoveniixr  2>tli,  IS-'*!*,  the  one  hundredtli  anniver- 
sary of  the  huildin^i;  of  their  nieetinLr-liou>e  was  ohse-rved 
— as  the  centennial  connnemoration  of  the  ori:anization  of 
ihv.  cf I  Kir  h  had  hcen,  under  the  llev.  .Mr.  Stearns,  in  IS-IO — 
])y  an  historical  discourse.  The  luiildinir  was  now  somewhat 
inodernize(l  wnd  repaired  tliroUj:;hout,  and  tlien  rededicaled 
to  l)e;;in  another  century. 

The  venerai»le  Dr.  Dana  (then  ei;.dity-five  years  f)f  a};jo) 
of)ened  his  remarks  with  a  fccliir^f  allusion  to  the  occasion, 
and  then  "  suLTjicsted  a  tew  thoujj;hts  as  t(»  the  proper  man- 
ner of  preachin<r  and  heai-in^  the  ji'ospel,"  in  which  "days 
did  sneak  and  the  nudtitude  of  (his)  years  tauiiht  wis- 
dom.' lie  was  succeeded  hy  other  previ(»us  pastors  of  the 
<;hurch,  the  J{ev.  Dr.  I'roudht,  an<l  l.y  the  l{(  v.  .1.  F. 
♦Stearns,  who  had,  in  l.SoO,  received  the  de;iree  of  S.  T.  1). 
from  the  Colleu'c  of  New  .It-rsey.  I'roudlit,  looking  at  the 
tomh  of  W'hitefield,  said  : 

''As  njy  (!y(!  rests  on  that  monument,  let  me  recall  tlie 
way  in  which  it  came  there,  us  it  may  hereafter  he  a  tradi- 
tion of  some  interest.  I  was  calling,'  one  evenini;  ujion 
Mr.  Hartlett,  when  ahout  to  leave  lor  an  ahsence  of  scjnie 
weeks,  lie  told  me  thai  he  had  heard  W'hitelichl  when  a 
boy,  and  had  never  for;.;olten  the  impression  made  upon 
liim  hy  his  preachinL^  He  e.\presse<l  a  desire  to  have  a 
suitable  monunn  lit  erecte«l  to  his  memory  in  this  church. 
JUi  asked  me  if  I  would  look  after  the  matter,  iind  emplo 
an  ennnent  artist  to  do  the  work.  1  incpiired  how  nnuh 
be  was  willing  it  should  cost.  M)n  that  j»oint,'  he  replied, 
'1  leave  you  entirely  at  liberty,  bet  it  he  something 
worthy  of  a  great  and  good  man.'  That  monument — <1<'- 
signetl  by  Strickland  and  executed  by  Strothers — is  the 
result.  1  used  the  liherty  he  gave  nie  m(»<lerately.  Had 
it  cost  ten  times  as  much,  he  woukl,  1  have  no  doul)t, 
have  paid  it  cIk  erfuUy.  Wiien  the  artist  presented  his 
demand,  Mr.  Uurtlctt  gave   bis   cbeck    fur  one   hundred 


I 


IN   NEW   ENGLAND. 


389 


V.  Dr. 

•eh  in 
sound 
Lciini!*, 
\;isttir- 
,  \vhil«' 

lunvor- 

(scrvi'd 

tion  ot' 

ISIG— 

iicwhat 

•dic.iiU'd 

of  a«io) 
(I'l-asion, 
(i-r  inan- 
li  "days 
>^\\\  wis- 
»vs  ol"  tlie 
V.  .1.  F. 

^.  T.  1). 
i<:  lit  the 

ocull  the 
0  a  tiadi- 
lu'j;  ujion 
ol'  some 
[I  wIh'U  a 
\dv  upon 
|c)  have  a 
Is  church. 
]l  nuph'V 
li)W  unuh 
\v  n'|>li''d, 


h( 


lit— « 


Iv.     Ihi'^ 


ho  (I 


huudad 


dollars  abovo  Iho  amnnnt.  Wlion  T  was  in  England,  tlio 
con^rc^alion  of  'I'olti'nhani  Court  and  the  TahiTnaclc  inti- 
iiiati'<l  a  dcsiri' to  liavc  his  remains  roiuovod  toKnglaiul; 
liul  \vhci\  I  tohl  thciii  what  Mr.  Martlctt  had  done,  they 
said,  that  if  an  Ann'rican  iicnthinan  was  willing  to  trivo 
thrci!  hundred  )Miunds  to  do  honor  to  his  nu.'niory,  Amer- 
ica was  wi'U  entitled  to  hi-^  remains." 

After  a  sueeessful  pastorate  of  thirteen  years,  Mr.  Vcr- 
iiiilye  was  (Hsmis>ed  in  April,  l-SC).'). 

Of  the  antei-echnts.  joice  of  eharaotor,  sympathies,  and 
usefulness  of  the  eigiitii  pastor  of  this  ehurch.  the  Hev. 
Iliehard  II.  lliehardson,  we  know  Itut  little,  exrepting  that 
\v'  was  installed  on  April  2>ith,  18G4,  and  disnnssed  in 
Ueloher,  l^tW."^ 

Second  ehureh,  Xrirhuri/port.  We  now  notice  one  of 
those'  manifestations  of  human  change  whieli  at  times  per- 
vades all  mei'tal  operations  ;ind  even  reli'_dou^  associations. 
Ill  17"-i">,  a  parly  oppose»l  tt)  the  iJev.  Daniel  Dana  as  a 
pastor,  had  so  agitatetl  matters  in  the  church  which  came 
to  the  I'reshytery  in  17l<»,  that  ratlier  than  lose  them  f'roni 
the  deiiominatioii,  they  then  reeeivecl  a  distinct  ecclesias- 
lical  organization,  and  were  now  known  for  t'ull  thirty  years 
as  the  second  Presbyterian  chunli  in  Newburyj)ort.  Al- 
though they  iiad  "despised  his  youth,"  they  iia<l  observed 
his  career  as  pastor,  jiresideiit,  and  pastor,  and  they  now 
iK'tilioned  him  to  take  charge  ol"  their  souls. 

The  generation  ol'  active  opponents  in  17i)5  had  now 
]>a-sed  away,  and  wiser  counsels  prevailc(I.  As  we  enter  on 
this  (|uarter  of  a  century,  he  had  "Ibiight  a  good  light''  of 
tifty-one  years  as  an  ordaiiud  minister,  and  was  now  "fin- 
ishing his  course;"  as  a  })astor,  while  he  still  "kept  the 
laith." 

*  PrcMbylt'rians  in  New  ILiniiwIiirt',  i'nim  Alouzti.J.  I'ojrj^'s  xtatisticfl 
fif  1>7I:  111  l.S")()  tiny  liidi  i;;  cliiirclifs,  (l.oOll  scats,  wortli  STl.OOU; 
in  lS(i(»  they  iuul  Iti  i-liiiiclas,  O.'.ibti  sials,  worlli  $.s;{,liili ;  in  IblO  tliey 
liiiil  7  rimiclics,  ;{,t7((  Hi-als,  wmili  S(1.'),()U(». 

Ill  lS7ii  tiny  li:t(l  l."»  cmmn •L-'aliiiiis;  '.♦  nf  tlit'ir  -irj  iiiitiistcrs  arc  ])a3- 
I'll''*  anil  slalcij  siijiiijics  t'l.r  I'n  -liytrriaiis,  ami  7  are  pastors  of  ('oiim'f^^a- 
tioiial  M)  'ivlirs  (  Mniiil)  .<  I. 

.\l-i».  ill  iMSi),  liu-y  liaii  (1  iliiirilics  in  Nfw  Haiiipsliiri',  1  in  Vrrmoiiti 
I  ill  iJliodu  Island,  ami  ."S  in  Massacliiisiau;   1(5  coii^jri-jfations  ami  'J,!M1 
nil  iiiliiTs ;     I  (((iiurc^Mtiniis  ill  (oiiiK'cticiit.     In   ISSl   tliry  return  U,G87 
lutiubers  in  the  I'rcsbytcry  oi  Bontun,  bcfiidu  liiose  in  Cunnecticut. 
24 


,;' 


'J 


370 


HISTOUY    OF   I'llKsnYTKHIANISM 


I 


Tho  lalmrs  of  liis  ripr  yoars  wen;  not  lost  on  a  \\\]V\r\(T 
])e()i)Ic'-  Tlicv  uiidir  liis  ininistrv  had  Imcoimc  more  '*  rnotfd 
and  ;,M'(»iiiid('d  in  tlic  laitli,"  and  incrrascd  in  nniulirrs. 
Such  a  (londition  in  a  j»ast(»rat<:  was  a  ^mod  time  (<•  ic-i'^Mi 
it,  wIk'U,  as  once  '"in  Judah.  thintrs  went  well."  Acconl- 
inj^dy,  at  his  own  rc(|ncst,  havinj^  "served  them  in  the  ;.m»s- 
jMd"  nearly  twenty  years,  he  w;is,  on  Oetoher  mOiJi,  Imi,")^ 
released  iVoin  his  |»astor<d  eharue. 

The  autumn  of  his  lif«!  was  spent  in  placid  contenipla- 
ti(Mi,  in  fellowship  with  (lod.  lie  was  ''<j;reat  aiiwm^  Chris- 
tians, and  accepted  ol"  the  mullituih!  of  his  hrelhren,  seek- 
inj;  tho  (Spiritual)  w<';dth  ol"  his  people,  ,'nid  speaking 
:)eac(!  to  all  his  seed."  lie  had  not  in  early  lite  eaten  the 
tread  of  idleness,  and  he  now  did  "  ^^odi]  ;is  he  had  opiior- 
tunity  unto  all  na'U,  es])ccially  to  the  household  of  laith.'' 
Jlence  his  pen  was  not  i<lle.  On  Auiiust  1st,  IS  17,  at  his 
native  jtlace,  Ijiswich,  he  jtreached  a  sermon  on  "The  I'aitli 
of  Former  Times,"  in  which,  "  without  fear,  he  jhiIs  tli<> 
(piestion,  whether,  in  some  modern  modes  (»f  explainiii}^ 
human  depravity,  atonement,  re;:eneration,  etc.,  <  tc,  tin  ro 
are  not  found  tin;  siiminal  principles  of  gross  and  funda- 
mental errors?" 

In  1<S")1,  on  April  .'U)th,  \w  preached  ''a  sermon  addressed 
to  till!  Preshyteiy  of  Londonderry,  at  r>edford,  N.  11.,  on 
JSIatt.  ix.  lo,  on  the  (pieslion,  'Do  our  churches  at  lar;,'e 
enjoy  the  presence  of  their  Saviour?'  If  so,  all  is  well. 
Jict  them  l»(!  thankl'ul  and  rejoice.  1  f  this  presence  is  with- 
drawn, so  far  as  it  is  withdrawn  they  hav<'  reason  for  hu- 
miliation and  ^rief.  With  grief  of  lieart  1  advert  t(»  that 
low  stittt;  iif  r<  liiiiiiii  in  our  connnunity,  which  living  ( 'hris- 
tians  coid'css  and  lament,  and  which  gives  joy  and  triumph 
to  a  careless  world.  Has  not  tlu;  Sdhhitth  lost  much  of  its 
n^verenee,  (iven  in  the  v.yrs  of  ('hristian  proless<jrs? 

"  1  advert  with  incxprcssilih-  rehictanc(>  to  a  jiraclico 
"which  incrcasiniily  prevails  in  our  cities,  and  from  which 
I  |)ray  (iod  that  our  country  congregations  may  keep 
themsi'lves  |iure.  I  refer  to  tix'  custom  o\'  f<ift!iuj  injiraiin' 
— a  custom  sanelioiud  neither  iiy  f>icty  nor  di'corum  -;i 
custom  which  wonhl  ahnost  seem  to  say  that  we  have  \V"'i- 
Bhipped  our  Maker  with  too  much  reverence  in  foruKr 
time,  and  may  now  approach  on  ti-rms  of  greater  familiar- 
ity the  High  and  Holy  One,  whom  i)rostrate  angels  udoru." 


IN   NEW  ENOLAND. 


371 


vi 


V(iot<'«l 
llultt'l'S. 

li,  1«15, 

tcrn|>lii- 
n;  Clivis- 

:itrn  tlio 

,1"  tailh/' 
17,  :it  Ww 
:\\v  F:>ith 

|.UlS    lilt' 

siilaiuiu!!; 

I  Ic,  til<10 

ul  I'umb- 


roll!  nvIi'k'Ii 
Jiiiay  ktr|) 

1.  have  wnr- 
in  loninr 

Lcls  iidoro. 


To  liiiu  "tl>o  truth  aR  it  is  in  Jesus"  was  precious,  and 
^villl  "a  nhictaucr  nut  to  he  cxpn'ssed,"  he  rriiioMstratcd 
with  tin-  trustees  of  I'liillips  Aeatlemy.  Amlover,  in  ISI'.), 
ami  aijain  in  l-S.'j.'l,  (tn  the  stale  ol'tlie  theological  seminary 
under  their  eare. 

"Having'  hern  a  nienil»er  of  their  Hoard  lor  forty-livi! 
years,  he  viewed  his  responsihility  as  jzreatly  enhanced 
after  the  TheoloLMeal  Seminary  was  annexed  to  the  aca- 
demic estalilishnicnt."  Me  was  "inlimat<ly  act|uainte(l 
with  the  fonndcrs  of  the  seminary,  and  knew  th«'ir  favorite 


(ihjeets  and   (h'siunis. 


II 


e  now  states 


I' 


vtry   professor 


must,  on  the  day  of  his  inauguration,  puhliekly  make  and 
suliserihc  a  solemn  declaration  oi"  his  faith  in  divine  reve- 
lation and  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Westminster  Assenddy'H 
Shorter  ( "alcehism.  lie  must  solenmly  promise  to  di-fend 
and  ineuleate  the  Christian  faith  as  thus  cxiiressed,  in  op- 
position to  all  contrary  doctrines  and  heresies.  He  must 
repeat  tiie  <leeIaration  and  promise  every  live  yenrs,  and 
should  he  refuse  this,  or  should  he  te;ich  or  endirace  any 
of  the  proscrilie(|  heresies  or  errors,  he  shall  h«'  forlhwilii 
removed  from  ollice." 

Such  are  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution.  "The  As- 
pociate  Statutes  are  in  perfect  acc<»rdance.  They  provide, 
indeed,  an  additional  <  rceil,  hut  a  creed  in  entire  h.irmony 
with  the  calfchism,  and  mnvise  desiifuctl  to  supersede  or 
invalidat*'  it."  "Such  was  the  desi^rn  of  the  founders,  a 
(lesion  not  oidy  easily  understood,  hut  impossihle  to  1)0 
misunderstood,  if  there  are  words  in  the  JOnj,dish  lan;^uago 
which  can  make  anythin;^  plain." 
"Our  duty  then  as  trustees  is  made  plain." 
"  Has  the  orthodox  character,  which  for  many  of  its  first 
years  it  maintained,  hcen  sulisecpu-ntly  preserved?  Have 
the  picachers  recently  s«'nt  forth  licen  champions  for  the 
doctrines  of  the  cross,  presentinji;  distinct  and  luci<l  exhihi- 
tions  of  human  d<'|travity,  of  rcL'cneration,  of  thi'  atone- 
ment, of  justilii'ation  hy  faith,  of  the  nature  of  experimental 
and  savinji  reliu'ion?  These  chan;j;es  are  delended  oi\  tliu 
^Mound  that,  'if  these  doctrines  ol'  the  Catechism  are  not 
taught  aecordinu'  to  their  proper  and  oii;:inal  nu'aninjr, 
tliey  are  tau;,dit  in  a  mode  which  is  more  ajireeahle  to  tho 
l>rin(;ij>les  of  philosophy  and  to  the  improved  taste  of  tijo 
times,  but  the  Constitution  deuiauds  that  they  sliould  ba 


■*if{ 


i 


I 


372 


IIISTOUY   OF   l'Ht:SIJYTi:UIANIS.M 


t        il! 


18  ^ 


■T-r 


the  rrry  mwr.  It  is  with  rc.il  jmiii  .'uid  trrirf  tli;i1  I  niiiko 
tlirsi'  st;it«'iiM'i)(s." 

Iliiviiiir  sl:it('«l  criiiiiiial  violiilinns  of  llicir  Coiislilution, 
:is  if  liir  actual  violations  of  it  I'V  tlir  |iroiiiiiiciit  lu'olcssor 
■were  (  like  his  "  ciiiiiiiniily  dcvisnl  laMi  ."  Ili.it  "  oriniiml  ,sin 
is)  not  sill,"  Im"  says,"  I  have  not  a  jiarli(  h;  ol"  |KT.soniil  in- 
inily  against  tht-  prolrssor." 

This,  all  who  kiu-w  him  would  hclicvi'.  After  this  datn, 
ill  is.').'),  he  wrote  his  intloduetiou  to  "The  Theolovrv  of 
New  l'hi;,daiid,"  iiotieed  ahove.  On  his  last  visit  l(t  tlit> 
writer  his  heart  wa.s  still  "  treiiihliiiLr  tor  the  ark  of  (Jod,'' 
as  lie  declarefl,  "  if  our  orthodox  ehiirehes  ^o  on  for  tlio 
iU!Xt  thirty  years  as  they  have  done  in  the  past,  \  do  not 
sou  how  ;^odliii«'SS  call  exi.st  ainoiu  tliein,  as  there  will  iwjt 
bu  left  one  «loetriiie  on  which  il  c  m  he  sii>Iii;ied." 

He  knew  that  the  IIe:id  <.f  ih.chnieh  "livelh,"lliat"tlio 
■walls  shall  he  Idiill  a^'aiii  even  in  Irouhloiis  limes,"  and 
having'  "served  his  -leneratioii  hy  the  will  of  (lod,  he  tell 
aslee|»  in  .lesus''  on  the  •JCdh  day  of  .\ui,'ust,  lS.")ll,  haviiij? 
passed  one  month  »»f  his  .silth  year  on  earth. 

To  succeed  one  so  "  valiant  for  the  truth,"  to  watch  lor 
liis  hi)ihlv  favored  lloek  and  "feed  them  with  the  hrcid  of 
life,"  th.''i:<v.  William  \V.  Kells  was  called.  His  installa- 
tion took  |»lace  on  July  1  Ith,  INKI.  As  a  spicimeii  of  the 
way  in  which  he  "  handled  the  word  of  ( iod,"  I  (piote  fmrii 
his  sermons  on  Fast  Hay.  April  (ith,  iSj.S,  from  .M;itt. 
ill.  J):  "  Is  it  iittt  true,  now  as  then,  that  when  Meshiiriii 
waxed  fat,  then  he  forsook  (lod  who  made  him,  and 
li^ihtly  esteemed  the  rock  of  his  salvation?'  Ami  while, 
like  the  .lews  of  <dd,  wc  cease  mit  to  hoast  'we  have  the 
Puritans  to  our  fathers,'  and  pride  ourselves  in  their  char- 
ucter  and  their  works,  and  count  ourselves  the  favorites  of 
heaven  on  their  account  and  look  iip(»n  all  the  j_'reat  nicr- 
cicsol"(iod  alMiiit  us  as  secure  through  them,  and  say  in 
our  hearts,  '<)iir  mountain  stands  str()n^^  and  we  shall 
never  he  inoved,'  may  it  not  he  true  after  all  that  we  havt- 
forsaken  the  principles  of  oiir  fathers  ;iiid  iire  hiisteiiiiii:  to 
use  up  and  to  consume  the  Messin;: of  (Jod  upon  the  hniil, 
for  the  fathers'  sake?  And  if  this  Ik;  so,  then  is  it  time  for 
us  to  hush  all  our  i<lle  hoastiiiir,  and  to  '  reineinher  wheiicti 
we  have  fallen  and  re|ient,and  do  the  first  works,  lest  <io(l 
come  quickly  and  remove  our  candkfcitick  out  of  lii.s  place 


III 


fl«l 


IN    NF:W    KNdLAND. 


373 


if  wo  ropont  not ;'  lest  tlic  livrlit  of  our  |»rivi]('j;rs  Ix*  turned 
aw.iy  U|i((M  soiiK!  (itlur  iialion,  aii<l  wi;  ^ropc  in  tlio 
darUiHss. 

"TIh'V  snflVn'd  no  forci^'U  autliority  to  usurp  tlirir  ri;/lit. 
to  tfiicli  tlicir  littlt!  oncM,  to  prcscrilx'  liow  nnicli  or  liow 
littl(!  of  ( iud's.  U(»r<l,  their  s^treiejtli  iiM<l  their  salvation, 
lliey  shonhl  impart  to  tho.-e  upon  whom  would  soon  de- 
V(»lv«!  their  hurdens.  TImv  heaitl  the  I  |n|y  Spirit  deelarinir 
that  all  'thing's  revealed  helon^'ed  to  thenj  and  to  their 
children;'  and  who  W(  le  ihev,  that  thev  hh(»uld  liirht 
aL'ainsttlod  and  f^'iv*-  liiit  a  part  where  he  had  ^iven  all? 
All — all  that  they  hi  hi  dciir  to  themselves  -the  jlihle  in 
the  utmost  freiilom  of  use,  and  the  (atechisni,  aH  a  eoni- 
iiientarv  upon  the  I'.ilile— all  that  strentithened  the  soul  in 
heavenly  wisdom  they  put  into  tlu'  eonniion  every-da}' 
(dueation  of  their  little  ones,  and  thus  (theyin;:  the  eom- 
niands  of  (lod,  it  was  their  hi;:lM'st  aim,  even  in  the  tinu'H 
(»f  ^reat  distress,  to  train  these  up  in  the  nurture  and  ad- 
monition of  the  liord.  An<l  Intw  is  it  now?  Alas!  every 
line  in  the  commendation  of  our  fathers  is  a  hurnin^  sen- 
tence of  condemnation  a;_Minst  ourselves.  That  ehurcli 
which  they  jdanted  in  prayer,  and  watered  with  ttars,  and 
cultivated  with  assiduous  toil,  now  easts  oil'  its  tender 
fruit  to  ripen  on  the  unwholesome  soil  of  the  world.  Liko 
an  unnatural  mother,  hIic  exposes  her  oUshrin^,  almost 
without  care  or  prol<'etion,  to  every  evil  inlinenee.  Y«'a, 
the  j)rofessed  people  of  (lod  are  upholdini:  and  sf  ren;,'tlien- 
iM'4  l)y  all  their  mi^ht  the  en).dnes  of  inlidelity  and  irrelij;- 
i(»n.  Th(!  church  has  siiU'ered  that  duty,  which  she  alono 
(Mil  properly  diseharLre,  t(»  fall  into  the  liands  of  the  state. 
And  as  the  state  knows  no  n'li,L:i<»n  hut  that  which  is  com- 
iiioii  to  all  its  component  |>arts,  so  it  can  teach  no  religion. 
And  that  education  which  l(>aves  out  tlu;  reliLrious  element 
is  es-!entially  an  unirodly,  an  irreli^'ious.  an  inlidel  educa- 
tion, it  virtually  (h'|»reeiales  the  value  of  that  which  irt 
(tiiiilted,  and  leaves  tin;  (le|)raved  heart  unrestraine<l  to  fol- 
low out  its  native  hatred  of  (lod.  if  we  compare  our  y>/-//i- 
'•'/)/(>■  with  theirs,  it  is  an  undeniahlc  fa<'t  that  very  litth? 
•locirinal  preaehin;;  of  any  kind  is  louiul  in  the  pulpits  of 
the  present  day  in  this  land  of  the  Puritans.  A  .sickly 
maitimentalism,  or,  at  most,  the  indelinit*'  and  indirect 
l>r(  aching  about  the  gosi)el,  is  set  bcfon;  their  sonn.     This  is 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


''/. 


/. 


o 


// 


A 


w- 


C/j 


(/. 


^ 


*^ 


1.0 


I.I 


1.25 


If  1^ 


M 

2.2 
20 

1.8 


1.4    IIIIII.6 


vQ 


<^ 


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/. 


C? 


/ 


/^ 


&? 


w- 


374 


HISTORY  OP   PRESBYTERIANISM 


"\1 


a  truth — an  awful  trutli.  The  po]-)ular  theology  of  the  day 
is  a  direct  contradictiqii  in  every  important  point  to  the 
doctrine  of  our  fathers." 

In  tliis  mere  outline  of  his  utterances  wo  see  the  man  as 
a  worthy  successor  to  the  venerahle  Dana,  and  his  teach- 
ings hecame  so  verified  in  his  surroundings,  that  he 
sought,  after  a  few  years,  a  more  congenial  field,  and  on 
April  21st,  1855,  he  was  released  to  lahor  in  Pennsylvania. 

He  was  sut-ceeded,  on  Decemher  30th,  185(3,  by  the  Rev. 
Herman  R.  Timlow.  Of  his  antecedents  (as  the  records  of 
Presbytery  are  lost)  we  have  no  definite  information.  The 
spirit  of  the  age  (as  noted  above)  was  now  becoming  more 
vigorous  and  pastorates  growing  shorter. 

How  far  he  taught "  the  same  things  "  with  his  predeces- 
sors, what  the  state  of  religion  was  among  his  people,  what 
his  faitlifulness  to  God  and  man,  we  can  only  infer,  for,  on 
April  2Lst,  1859,  he  was  dismissed. 

Mr.  Timlow  was  succeed(^d  on  June  6th,  1860,  by  the 
Rev.  James  Cruikshanks.  He  was  brought  (when  a  lad) 
from  Scotland,  but  the  little  doctrinnl  instruction  which  he 
had  there  received  was  extensively  bleached  out  of  him, 
and  he,  after  a  course  of  study  in  it,  became  a  champion 
of  the  New  England  theology.  Being  thus  engaged  in 
preaching  "  another  gospel  which  was  not  another  "  in  the 
pulpit  of  Dana  and  Eells,  his  stay  was  short.  He  was  dis- 
missed on  August  ■'st,  1862. 

He  occupied  in  other  places  in  New  England,  but  not  as 
a  Presbyterian.  His  speech  always  "  bewrayed "  him. 
He  could  not  intone  vocables  but  with  a  foreign  peculiarity. 
In  his  best  estate  in  New^  England  he  was  only  "a  for- 
eigner," and  he  emigrated  to  \\'isc()nsin.  Demand  regu- 
lates supply.  Ministers  detached  have  to  sojourn  where 
they  can  "find  a  place."  Hence  to  obti^in  a  hearing  in  a 
vacant  church  under  the  light  of  the  las'  half  of  tlie  nine- 
teenth century,  is  at  times  diflicult,  and  pastoral  settle- 
ments take  place  oftentimes,  at  least,  not  ra[)idly.  From 
twelve  to  fifty-two  candidates  may  be  heard  in  one  year. 
In  this  Second  church  the  Rev.  Ik'njamin  Y.  George  was 
installed  April  27th,  1864.  Cause,  reason  or  occasion  of 
removal  we  cannot  give,  but  he  was  dismissed  September 
26th,  1866. 

Demand  became  now  forciblcj  and  in  three  months,  on 


IN    NEW   ENGLAND. 


375 


December  27th,  18G6,  tlie  Rev.  James  G.  Johnson  was  in- 
stalled. With  him,  among  the  pastora  of  this  church,  we 
end  this  quarter  of  a  century.  He  was  dismissed  on 
September  22d,  1868. 

East  BoHton.  The  origin  of  this  congregation  by  the 
manipulations  of  the  Rev.  H.  H.  Johnston  and  a  "  society  " 
in  1858,  we  have  seen,  and  also  how  that,  after  his  de- 
parture, the  Rev.  T.  N.  Haskell  was,  on  December  3d, 
1802,  installed  pastor.  During  his  ministrations,  although 
the  thirty-seven  de  jure  owners  of  the  church  estate  were 
scattered,  and  none  of  them  (it  is  believed)  united  with  the 
"  society  "  of  twenty-two  persons,  yet  as  a  new  minister 
usually  gives  a  new  impulse  to  a  congregation,  so  this  new 
man,  coming  to  Presbyterianism,  collected  not  a  few  new 
people.  From  the  days  of  Mr.  Johnston  they  were  under 
the  care  of  the  Londonderry  Presbytery.  As  the  records 
of  that  court  at  this  date  are  lost,  so  of  the  efficiency  of  his 
pastoral  work  we  can  say  but  little.  On  October  23d, 
1866,  he  resigned.  On  April  1st,  1867,  the  Rev.  M.  A. 
Depue  commenced  as  a  stated  supply,  was  called  on  July 
3d,  and  installed  on  the  11th.  His  resignation  was  ac- 
cepted on  July  12th,  1869. 

We  turn  now  to  Boston  proper. 

As  we  have  seen,  the  Rev.  A.  S.  Muir  arrived  on  Decem- 
ber 9th,  1853.  "He  preached  from  December  11th  till 
June,  1854,  at  the  Melodeon,  and  then  until  June,  1855, 
in  the  Freeman  Place  Chapel."  In  public  worship  he  ad- 
hered closely  to  the  Ps-ilms  and  Paraphrases,  and  was  in- 
tensely Scotch.  Standing  in  an  ample  surrounding  of 
man-millinery,  he  stated  that  "the  silk  was  bought  from  a 
Scotchman  by  Scotch  people,  made  by  a  Scotch  tailor  and 
worn  by  a  Scotch  preacher,  and  it  is  a  real  Scotch  gown." 
I  again  quote  from  his  church  "memorial."  "During 
this  time  three  elders  had  been  ordained.  A  call  was  ex- 
tended to  Mr.  Muir  to  become  ])astor  of  tlie  church,  but 
many  persons  had  lost  confidence  in  him,  and  it  was  not 
unanimous.     He  went  to  Scotland  and  did  not  return. 

"  The  elders  ordained  by  him  also  lost  the  confidence 
of  the  church,  and  the  Presbytery  of  Halifax  declared 
their  ordination  unauthorized,  irregular  and  void.  For 
his  passage-money  to  this  country  and  back,  some  S400 
(previous  to  his  coming),  the  committee  became  responsi' 
ble." 


v    , 


II 


376 


HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


"  The  Presbytery  sent  out  a  young  man  named  Ross, 
who  supplied  the  puli)it  for  a  year,  duiinjj^  which  time  the 
audiences  dwindled  to  a  mere  handful.  In  June,  185G, 
the  congregation  voted  to  unite  with  the  Presbytery  (jf 
Montreal,  which  gave  them  good  and  regular  sujjplics. 
After  some  delay  the  society  was  received  into  connection 
with  the  Canadian  church,  and  on  July  'I'M,  1857,  the 
Rev.  William  McLaren,  of  Amherstburg,  Ontario,  having 
received  an  unanimous  call,  was  installed  as  pastor.  He 
remained  till  November  3Uth,  1858,  doing  a  good  work, 
having  consolidated  the  worshippers,  established  prayer- 
meetings,  Bible-classes,  literary  meetings  for  the  young 
men,"  etc.,  etc.     (Hist,  of  Beach  St.  CL,  p  5.) 

"  The  spirit  of  the  times  "  was  now  taking  jjossession  of 
this  people,  and  while  during  his  ministry,  sixty-seven 
members  had  been  added,  and  he  preached  the  gospel  in 
its  purity,  two  or  more  of  the  leaders  declared,  ''  We  must 
have  a  Kalloch,  or  a  Stone."  Tliis  first  beau-ideal  of  })ul- 
pit  holiness  and  power  was  then  linishing  his  course  as  a 
Baptist  in  Tremont  temple,  preparatory  to  wading  through 
the  mire  of  politics  in  Kansas,  to  the  pulpit  in  and  (under 
the  patronage  of  the  immaculate  Dennis  Kearney  of  ''  the 
Sand  Lots  ")  to  the  mayoralty  of  San  Francisco. 

Sensationalism  now  became  the  governing  force.  Con- 
nected with  the  preaching  of  the  gos})cl  in  its  purity  and 
power,  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  McLaren,  the  congregation  had 
hitherto  sung  only  the  psalms  and  paraphrases.  There 
was  too  much  "Scotch"  in  this  order  of  Avorship,  and 
"the  church,  with  but  one  dissenting  vote,  decided  to 
unite  with  the  Presbytery  of  Londonderry,  the  vote  to 
take  effect  on  December  1st."     {/6.,  p.  5.) 

Before  him,  in  Canada,  a  wide  door  of  usefulness,  as  a 
professor,  was  opened,  which  he  has  for  above  twenty 
years  honorably  occupied. 

"  In  the  spring  of  1859,  the  society,  by  a  divided  vote, 
invited  the  Rev.  David  Magill,  of  Philadelphia,  to  the  pas- 
toral office. 

"He  was  installed  on  July  14th,  and  on  the  25th  of 
March,  1860,  the  church  was  fully  organized  by  the  ordi- 
nation and  installation  of  R.  K.  M.  Baynum  and  D.  D. 
Morrison  as  elders."     (lb.,  p.  5.) 

For   the  building,  purchased   in    December,  1859,  on 


IN    NEW  ENGLAND. 


377 


LU'se  as  a 


Beach  street,  and  opened  as  an  Old  School  Presbyterian 
church  on  the  8th  of  January,  1860,  it  became  apparent 
that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ma<,nll  could  not  raise  the  money  re- 
quired to  pay.  Consequently  "  he  resigned  in  August," 
and  preached  to  them  his  last  sermon  on  September  8th, 
1861. 

"  The  pulpit  was  acceptably  supplied  a  portion  of  the 
year  1862  by  the  Rev.  li.  M.  Painter  of  Booneville,  Mis- 
souri. The  Rev.  R.  A.  DeLancy,  D.  D.,  su])plied  part  of 
the  time  witliout  remuneration  until  October  28d,  1864, 
when  an  union  was  effected  with  the  Oak  Place  Congrega- 
tional church,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bixl)y,  ])ringing  with  him 
lOU  members,  was  installed  as  pastor."  {lb.,  p.  5.)  He 
preached  his  farewell  sermon  in  Beach  Street  church  on 
October  1st.  1866.  They  were  then  for  two  years  depend- 
ent on  su[)plies. 

As  we  ai)proach  the  middle  of  this  nineteenth  century, 
marked  changes  a])pear  in  social  life  and  in  the  varied  in- 
dustries. Railroad  cars  sujjersede  the  stage-coach,  steam 
propels  the  i)rinting-press  and  gives  to  commerce  an  un- 
precedented impulse,  both  on  land  and  on  the  sea.  Labor- 
saving  machinery,  while  it  cUminislies  toil,  like  the  confu- 
sion of  tongues,  scatters  many  "  abroad  upon  the  face  of 
the  whole  earth,"  and  to  enterprise,  those  classes  of  men 
especially  give  tl)  .aiselves,  who  liave  been  trained  to  know 
the  New  England  Primer. 

Hence,  both  Scotland  and  New  England  are  extensively 
covered  with  manufactories,  all  calculated  to  promote  con- 
venience, accumulate  wealth,  or  provide  embellishment. 

To  "  the  days  of  the  Catechism  "  we  turn,  and  we  iind, 
that  the  "promising  circle  of  young  men  in  Derry,  N.  H., 
had  advantages  held  out  to  them  from  abroad,  wliich  in- 
duced them  to  leave  tlieir  native  place,"  while  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Dorus  Clarke,  in  his  very  valuable  lecture,  entitled, 
"Saying  the  Catechism,"  has  shewn  the  inward  life,  not 
only  of  the  town  of  Westhami)ton  eighty  years  ago,  but 
also  the  extensive  usefulness  in  tlieir  generations  of  many 
who  stored  in  their  memories  the  logic  and  truth  contained 
in  this  "  form  of  sound  words."  To  it  Watt  and  Morse 
were  deei)ly  indebted.  The  invention  of  the  cotton-gin 
by  Whitney  opened  the  door  to  ease  and  wealth  to  mil- 
lions, and  prompt(3d  the  utilizing  of  the  ungenial  soil  of 
much  of  New  England  for  spinning  and  weaving. 


f    "i 


¥ 


%'  1 


378 


HISTORY   OF   niESBYTERIANISM 


Around  the  factory  a  village  must  be  gathered,  and  the 
varied  appliances,  springing  from  (and  characteristic  of) 
modern  Christian  civilization,  in  due  time  appear.  In 
this  way,  in  New  England,  Presbyterianisni  received  an 
invigorating  impulse. 

Thompsonvilk,  in  Connecticut,  "in  1828  had  a  dis- 
tillery, a  carding-mill,  a  linseed-oil  mill,  a  flouring-niill, 
one  store,  and  a  population  of  less  than  forty  souls." 
Through  the  energy  of  Mr.  Grin  Thompson  especially,  the 
"Carpet  Manufacturing  ConjjKiny  was  organized  and  char- 
tered." 

Labor,  skill  and  integrity  Avere  now  required,  and  for 
qualified  weavers  an  agent  was  sent  to  (Scotland.  The 
first  company  arrived  in  October,  and  those  who  came 
were  annually  followed  by  others.  These  people  had  been 
accustomed  to  worship  God,  and,  appreciating  the  privi- 
leges bought  with  the  toil,  sacrifices  and  blood  of  their 
fathers,  they  did  not  forget  that  "  Scotland  owed  all  that 
was  noble  in  her  history  to  Divine  revelation,  and  that, 
when  found  without  the  Bible,  anarchy  and  despotism  had 
ruled  and  ruined  her.'' 

They  considered  that  "half  a  loaf  was  better  than  no 
bread,"  and  waited  on  the  ministry  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Rob- 
bins,  the  orthodox  minister  in  Enfield. 

In  lcS31  a  Mr.  Mitchell,  a  Scotchman,  who  was  engaged 
in  teaching  through  the  week,  preached  to  them  on  the 
Sabbath.  After  his  dejiarture,  tiiey  returned  to  the  min- 
istry of  j\Ir.  Robbins,  from  wliich,  by  distance,  the  aged 
and  the  young  were  excluded,  especially  in  winter. 

In  1834  a  building  was  erected,  the  lower  story  of  which 
served  for  a  school-room,  and  the  upper  one  for  a  church. 
The  professors  at  East  Windsor  supplied  them  usually  on 
Sabbath  until  1838. 

Being  poor,  they  applied  to  the  "  Connecticut  Home 
Missionary  Society "  for  aid,  and  could  not  understand 
why  they  were  refused. 

The  reasons  might  have  been  two.  East  Windsor  was 
Calvinistic,  and  "  the  society  "  was  less  so,  and  could  easily 
see,  that  of  these  sons  of  the  heather,  i^-  would  not  have 
been  easy,  to  make  modern  Congregationalists.  Trusting 
in  God,  they  redoubled  their  efforts  to  sustain  ordinances 
and  sought  an  organization.     Dr.  Harvey,  who  had  been 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


379 


previously  a  Congregationalist  for  twenty-eight  years,  and 
who  hud  now  preached  to  tiieni  for  several  months,  sought 
lo  have  them  adopt  his  own  polity,  but  they  loved  the 
cliurcli  of  their  fatliers.  They  could  not  believe  that  "the 
manner  in  which  Congregationalism  took  its  rise  in  New 
England  renders  it  suihciently  divine."  (Chri.stian  Ob- 
scrvdtur;/,  1854.)  When  their  votes  were  counted  all  but 
two  were  given  for  a  Presbyterian  organization.  As  the 
man  of  old,  "when  the  mountain  would  not  come  to  him, 
he  went  to  the  mountain,"  so  the  Kev.  Dr.  Harvey  became 
a  Presbyterian. 

A  petition  for  an  organization  was  forwarded  to  the  New 
York  Presbytery  (Old  School),  who  Avere  surprised  to  find 
"a  good  thing  come  out  of  Nazareth,"  and  granted  the  re- 
quest, whieli  was  carried  into  cfl'ect  on  July  5th,  1839, 
when  eighty-two  members  were  enrolled,  and  on  the  6th 
four  elders  were  ordained.  Excepting  the  congregations 
of  Voluntown,  ]\Iilford,  ^Mansfield  and  Cornwall,  which  ex- 
isted for  a  time  during  the  previous  century,  this  was  the 
first  Presbyterian  church  organized  in  Connecticut. 

On  July  10th  the  Rev.  Dr.  Harvey  was  installed  pastor. 
Their  house  of  worshi]),  built  by  the  Carpet  company,  was 
dedicated  in  the  sunniier  of  1841,  and  in  1845  its  capacity 
was  enlarged  by  the  same  benefactors,  and  while  the  con- 
gregation were  ])ermitted  to  occupy  the  edifice  rent-free, 
through  good  intentions  unfulfilled,  they  never  became  by 
gift  owners  of  the  property. 

Their  pastor  was  a  man  of  positive  character,  "fully 
persuaded  in  his  own  mind,"  "a  student  and  a  scholar. 
The  distinctive  features  of  doctrine  embodied  in  the  West- 
minster Catechism  formed  the  groundwork  of  all  his 
preaching." 

In  1856  he  preached  three  sermons  on  "  the  true  basis 
of  Christian  and  minist'^rial  fellowship,"  which  by  request 
were  published,  and  which  embody  (it  is  feared)  too  much 
truth  to  be  now,  one-quarter  of  a  century  afterwards,  ex- 
cepting by  a  very  few  individuals,  read  in  New  England. 
In  1855  the  Rev.  Dr.  Tyler  sent  to  him  a  discourse,  which 
he  had  published  on  "  Human  Ability  and  Inability." 
To  this  he  replied  :  "  My  first  remark  is,  there  is  a  want  of 
atlinity  between  the  doctrine  of  your  discourse  and  your 
text,  and  not  only  so — there  is  a  manifest  variance  be- 


380 


HISTORY  OP  PRESBYTERIANISM 


tween  the  two.  My  second  remark  is,  your  doctrine  is  at 
variance  with  other  parts  of  your  discourse.  My  third  re- 
mark is,  the  arji;unients  by  which  you  attempt  to  sup[iort 
the  doctrine  extorted  from  your  text,  so  far  from  sustain- 
ing, do  not  even  reach  the  doctrine.  My  fourth  remark  is, 
that  in  the  face  of  your  doctrine,  and  of  various  passages 
of  your  discourse,  to  which  I  have  already  referred, 
you  a])parently,  if  not  intentionally,  concede  the  whole 
ground  in  question  by  saying,  'My  meaning  is,  that  God 
does  not  require  of  men  what  they  might  not  do,  if 
rightly  disposed.'  My  next  remark  is,  your  reference  to 
authorities  in  support  of  your  theory  of  natural  ability  is 
unsatisfactory.  My  next  remark  is,  the  doctrine  of  your 
discourse  is  in  discordance  with  the  language  and  teaching 
of  the  Scriptures." 

Thus  "  valiant  for  the  truth  upon  the  earth,"  he  contin- 
ued in  the  pastoral  office  until  April  28th,  1857,  when  at 
his  own  request,  owing  to  ill-healtli  and  the  weight  of 
threescore  and  ten  years,  he  was  released.  lie  removed 
to  the  upper  peninsula  of  Michigan,  on  the  banks  of  Lake 
Superior,  where  he  died  February  4th,  1873,  aged  eighty- 
six  years.  To  feed  a  people  thus  docirinally  trained,  Di- 
vine Providence  sent  to  them  the  Rev.  Carson  Wilson 
Adams,  1).  D.,  then  resident  in  Virginia,  who  iissumed  the 
duties  of  the  office  on  the  first  Sabbath  of  December,  1857. 
We  here  see  one  of  the  advantages  of  "sound  doctrine," 
viz. :  an  early  pastoral  settlement,  quite  in  contrast  with 
what  is  said  of  "  the  Congregational  church  at  Ilolbrook, 
Mnss.,  which  has  been  seeking  a  pastor  for  nine  years, 
listening  during  that  time  to  sermons  from  two  hundred 
and  forty  candidates."  ( W.  Star.  )  No  people  familiar 
with  "  the  New  England  primer  "  ever  did  or  ever  will  be- 
come such  a  ga zing-stock. 

On  June  1st,  ISlkS,  Dr.  Adams  was  dismissed.  Good  in- 
tentions unfullillod  on  the  part  of  Orin  Thompson,  Esq., 
overtook  this  congregation  in  1851.  In  that  year  the  com- 
pany failed,  iind  in  1854,  among  the  assets  which  passed 
into  the  hands  of  the  Hartford  company  was  the  Presbyte- 
rian church  ))roi)crty.  While  they  had  had  no  work  for  two 
years,  yet  ])rayer  and  determination  were  employed,  and 
as  the  blessing  of  God  comes  through  sacrifice,  with  not 
over  four  hundred  dollars  of  outside  aid,  the  property  was 
secured  to  the  congregation,  and  they  continue  to  prosper. 


is  at 
rd  re- 
pport 
stuin- 
vrk  is, 

"erred, 
whole 
t  God 
do,   if 
nee  to 
ility  is 
if  your 
inching 

contin- 

•lien  at 

iiiht  of 

I'niovod 

af  Lake 
eiffhty- 
cd,  Di- 
Wilson 

ned  the 
1857. 

»ctrine," 
t  with 
Ibrook, 
years, 
undred 
aniiliar 
will  be- 

lood  in- 
n,  Esq., 
le  com- 
passed 
resbyte- 
f or  two 
led,  and 
lith  not 
Irty  was 
ivusv^'V. 


ist 


IN    NEW  ENGLAND. 


881 


Tnriffvilh  in  1840  contained  less  than  four  hundred 
inhabitants,  but  finding  the  car])et  nianulaoturinf;  at 
Tliompsonville   profitable,  the   company    extended    their 


f>l 


)er 


;)Soni 
ations  to  tliat  pUice.     One  establislinient  erected  there 


cost  $900,000,  and  gave  employment  to  from  (ioO  to  800 


operatives 


The  church  w;!S  ci.nstituted   October  24th, 


1844."  In  IH.');}  the  i)opulatioii  was  n(>arly  2,000.  On 
October  15th,  1850,  tlie  Synod,  out  of  the  Presbytery  of 
New  York  ( O.  S.)  erected  the  Presbytery  of  Connecticut, 
which  held  its  first  meeting  in  Thonipsonvjlle  on  October 
29th. 

Of  the  seven  ministers  who  composed  that  Presbytery, 
the  Rev.  R.  G.  Thompson,  of  the  Presbyterian  church  in 
Tariffville,  was  one. 

Built  up  by  similar  if  not  identical  interests  with  the 
company  in  Tliompsonville,  the  failure  there  prostrated 
this  leading  industry  of  the  village.  Consequently,  de- 
prived of  emitloyment  the  operatives  could  no  longer 
sustain  ordinances,  and  the  church  became  extinct. 

In  1851,  an  individual  of  another  persuasion  called  the 
attention  of  the  Rev.  R.  G.  Thompson  to  the  number  of 
Presbyterians  living  in  Hartford,  and  in  June  he  laid  the 
case  before  the  Presbytery  of  Connecticut,  then  in  ses- 
sion in  New  Haven.  The  services  of  the  Rev.  James  Ely 
were  secured  to  commence  the  work,  and  on  Sabbath,  the 
13th,  about  fifty  assembled  and  Mr.  Ely  preached  to  them 
twice. 

Mr.  Thompson  conducted  services  on  the  next  Sabbath. 
Mr.  Ely,  acting  under  a  commission  of  the  Presbyterian 
Board  of  Domestic  Missions,  became  their  stated  supply. 

Very  soon  application  was  made  to  Mr.  Thomas  S. 
Childs,  a  recent  graduate  of  Princeton  Theological  Semi- 
nary, and  a  licentiate  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  York,  to 
take  charge  of  the  enterprise,  and  to  them  he  preached  his 
first  sermon  on  the  24th  day  of  August.  The  congregation 
numbered  about  75  persons,  nearly  all  from  the  north  of 
Ireland  and  Scotland. 

They  had  neither  wealth  nor  special  influence,  but 
among  them  were  godly  and  earnest  Christians. 

Declining  a  call  to  a  pastorate  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
he  cast  in  his  lot  with  this  people. 

At  a  meeting  of  Presbytery  at  Thompson ville  on  Novem- 


882 


HISTORY   OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


ber  4tli,  a  petition  for  the  organization  of  a  church  was 
granted,  and  in  due  time  tliirt y-tuo  nicnibcrs  wore  enrolled, 
two  elders  ordained  and  installed.  They  assemhled  in 
their  "own  hired"  large  "  U|)[»er  room"  until  tliey  were 
able  to  ol^ain  a  church  eililice.  The  ])salnis  of  the  version 
of  their  native  lands  were  used  in  public  Avorship  by  his 
liearers,  till  January  21st,  1852.  The  introduction  of  tlio 
Assembly's  ])salmody  and  hynnis  was  attended  with  some 
opposition  and  loss.     This  was  to  be  expected. 

in  due  tine,  a  house  was  purchased,  and  as  is  often  the 
case,  in  sue!  an  enterprise,  tiie  i)astor  had  to  sacriliee  most. 
So  it  was  here.  Receiving  an  unanimous  call,  Mr.  Childs 
was  ordained  and  installed  on  June  3(,)th,  1852,  and  the 
great  secular  burden  (as  well  as  the  s))iritual)  fell  on  the 
pastor.  This  was  prosecuted  under  great  difliculties,  and 
continued  for  several  years,  and  at  one  time  he  had  to  ad- 
vance the  whole  of  his  salary,  to  meet  an  emergency.  It 
is  not  uncommon  to  hear  men,  even  preachers  of  great  pre- 
tensions to  holiness  and  zeal,  denounce  a  j>astor,  who  views 
"the  very  dust  of  Zion  dear"  to  him  and  "spends  and  is 
spent "  for  "  the  house  of  his  God."  8uch  an  one  is  ready 
to  cry,  "secular,"  while  he  is  too  slothful  or  lifted  up  with 

f)ride  to  assist  in  the  work.  In  his  own  way  he  "magnilies 
lis  office."  In  order  to  success  in  the  Master's  work  where 
all  the  surroundings  are  hostile  to  Presbyterianism,  God- 
fearing-men as  pastors  in  New  England  have  often  to  do 
this.  Mr.  Childs  did  it,  until  his  health  failed  antl  for 
years  afterward.  In  the  meantime,  he  preached  the  gos- 
pel with  a  majesty,  which  nothing  but  "  sound  doctrine" 
could  produce,  until  the  autumn  of  18G5,  and  while  he 
was  forced  to  leave  a  debt  (i)rinci])ally  for  repairs)  of  S2,OU0 
on  a  church  estate  worth  $25,000,  250  persons  had  been 
received  into  the  communion  of  the  church  during  his 
ministry. 

He  also  took  especial  care  of  the  youth,  aiding  and  en- 
couraging promising  young  men  to  enter  the  ministry. 
"The  customs  of  the  churches"  overtook  him  in  l(St)l, 
when  the  introduction  of  instrumental  music  led  to  the 
withdrawal  of  between  thirty  and  forty  members.  The 
Rev.  Dr.  Childs  became  a  theological  professor  in  Hart- 
ford, and  afterwards  at  Wooster,  Ohio. 
To  the  Vixant  church  the  Rev.  John  Aspinwall  Hodge 


IN    NEW    ENGLAND. 


383 


proacliod  on  tho  first  Sal^bafh  of  Jai^unrv,  and*  was  in- 
stall«;(l  on  May  2(1,  l.S()().  That  '"the  a<ie  "  liiis  bccnnic  ox- 
tensivt'ly  "  niatorial,"  is  shown  by  many  places  of  worship. 
In  their  structure,  while  entirely  to  future  ages  an  ana- 
rhronisni,  (Jothic  arches  have  l)econio  increasingly  in 
l)uilJing  (not  as  tbrnierly  an  house  of  praverj  but  a  repro- 
duction of  some  of  the  })ile8  of  "  the  middle  ages,"  called 
cathedrals.  This  taste  is  found  even  in  "the  land  of 
steady  habits."  Plis  people  had  now  "a  ])lain  comforta- 
ble brick  building  well  adapted  to  their  wants,  and  capa- 
ble of  seating  some  7oO  people."  As  is  customary  on  the 
settlement  of  a  new  pastor,  it  required  some  repairs  and 
embellishments.  To  be  abreast  of  the  extravagance  "of 
the  times,"  Mrs.  J.  W.  offered  $5,000  towards  a  new 
house.  This  otter  was  i)resented  to  the  trustees,  one  of 
whom,  on  finding  that  in  the  market  their  building  would 
bring  l)Ut  8b3,000,  gave  for  it  $17,500. 

On  February  28th,  1868,  they  dedicated  their  chapel. 
So  much  for  seventeen  years  of  their  history. 

During  these  years  (from  184o  till  1S08)  a  church  in 
New  Haven  was  received  by  the  Presbytery  of  Connecti- 
cut from  a  Classis  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  church. 

The  date  of  its  organization,  the  field  which  it  occupied, 
the  influence  which  it  wielded,  the  manner  and  time  of 
its  extinction  are  facts  which  the  writer  has  not  the  means 
to  know.  The  doctrine  and  form  of  government  would 
make  it  an  exotic  in  that  nursery  of  "  New  England 
theology." 

Being  remote  from  its  own  ecclesiastical  kindred,  it  ap- 
pears to  have  been  transfc"  ^  in  the  hope  that  it  might 
be  perpetuated  to  "  contenu  earnestly  ibr  the  faith,"  but 
with  Tarifl'ville  it  has  finished  its  course. 

The  same  mav  be  said  of  Deep  River,  which  was  organ- 
ized July  27th,  1850. 

The  First  Presbyterian  chn^'ch  of  Stamford  was  organ- 
ized by  the  Third  Prcsl)ytery  of  New  "I'ork,  February  2()th, 
1853.  The  pastors  have  been  the  Rev.  J.  Leonard  Corning, 
April  19th,  1858,  till  October  15th,  1850.  The  Rev.  Robert 
R.  Booth  from  Mnrch  4th,  1857,  to  February,  1801.  Rev. 
Dwight  K.  Bartlett  from  April  14th,  1802,  till  February, 
1804.  The  Rev.  Samuel  P.  Halsey  from  March  8th,  1805, 
to  February  7th,  1867. 


i  r- 


I 


iff 


1 


884 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


Bridgeport.  On  October  Ifitli,  1853,  in  tin's  city,  eirrhty- 
two  pc^rsons,  who  iiad  witli<lr;i\vn  I'rotn  tin;  Second  C()n;:;re- 
gational  churcli,  entered  into  a  ehnrcli  relation,  and  re- 
<|Uested  the  I'reshytery  of  New  York  to  receive  them  under 
its  care.  They  were  so  received,  und  their  lirst  ])astor,  the 
.Rev.  Nathaniel  Hewitt,  1).  D.,  was  in.stalled  October  .'>lst, 
in  that  year.  Tiu;  IJev.  Horace  G.  Hinsdale  was  installed 
associate  pastor  October  2<Sth,  18G2. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Hewitt  died  February  3d,  18G7,  in  the 
seventy-ninth  year  of  his  ago. 

The  first  church  edifice  was  dedicated  Aujrust  8th,  1855. 
It  Wvis  burnt  and  rehuiit  in  its  present  beautiful  form. 

By  the  Fourth  Presbytery  of  New  York,  a  church  was 
organized  in  Darien  on  November  4th,  18(33.  Its  first  pas- 
tor, the  Rev.  James  \\ .  ('oleman,  was  ordained  and  in- 
stalled on  March  -Ith,  18(14,  and  continues  pastor  '  the 
end  of  this  quarter  of  a  century. 

In  Bridgeport  a  (Jerman  Presbyterian  church  was  organ- 
ized in  18G5  by  the  Presbytery  of  Connecticut.  It  was, 
after  a  icw  years,  dismissed,  to  ])lace  itself  under  the  care 
of  the  German  Relbrmed  churcli. 

In  1853.  the  Rev.  Ji.  R.  Allen,  previousl}^  a  pastor  in  a 
Congregationalist  church  in  South  JSerwick,  in  Maine,  was 
called  to  the  pastorate  of  New  Boston,  N.  H.  He  was 
afterwards,  until  his  death,  pastor  of  an  orthodox  church 
in  Marblehead.  "Valiant  lor  the  truth,"  be  reunited  with 
the  Presbytery,  so  that  if  voted  out  by  "the  spirit  of  the 
age,"  and  ; breed  "  to  go  West,"  a  certificate  from  a  clerk 
of  a  Presbytery  would  to  him  be  of  five-fold  more  value 
(as  his  compeer,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Cam))bell,  informed  me) 
than  a  dismissal  in  "  (,'ongregational  form."  He  "  fought 
a  good  fight  and  kept  the  faith." 

The  cburcli  in  Thonii)sonvillc  prospered  until  1845, 
when  they  found,  that  while  they  were  Presbyterians,  the 
circumambient  "customs"  of  New  England  must  receive 
liomage.  A  town -meeting  in  Berkeley,  Mass.,  bad  de- 
clared, in  1733,  that  "an  organ  is  an  instrument  of  the 
devil  for  entrap]>ing  men's  souls"  (/^^r.),  but  since  1827, 
the  orthodox  Old  vSouth  church  in  Boston  (which  wanted 
but  one  vote,  in  1809,  to  carry  it  and  its  wealth,  with  all 
the  others  in  the  city,  into  Unitarianism),  had  led  off  to 
the  organ,  and  it  had  been  preceded  and  followed  just  so 


IN  NEW  p:ngland. 


385 


and  ro- 
ll \inil(T 
5tor,  the 

)ev  :nst, 

.nstalled 

1,  in  the 

th,  1855. 
or  in. 
urch  wfis 
lirst  pas- 
L  and  in- 
or     '  the 

iTas  organ- 
.  It  was, 
r  the  care 


far  and  so  fast,  as  "advanced  tliouglit"  had  diversified 
taste  and  iiuTrascd  cidtnr(>. 

'i'he  mother  orthodox  or^^an  was  bnilt  at  the  above  date 
in  Lon(h)ii,  and  srt  U|>  in  Uuston.  It  cost  ^7,<HH),  and  not 
a  few  of  the  ('(in^rcuationaHst  churclics  had  now,  in  1^45, 
so   far  reached   manhood,  as   to  "put    away  the  cliihUsli 


thii 


los 


of 


sin^in^- psahns  to  God  with  firacc."  Rcjoicinj^ 
in  the  i)ahuhnn  of  the  18U  Psahns  "  imitated,"  and  other 
'•  enticinu'  ^vords  of  man's  wisdom,"  they,  accordinji  to  their 
wealth,  must  have  the  con(hnient  of  instruments.  The 
viol,  hass-viol,  or  cornet  did  not  cost  much,  and  were  usu- 
ally the  inoneers  to  the  soul-trap  of  the  lierkeley  men.  So 
it  was  here.  Tin;  choir,  forming-  oftentimes,  if  not  always, 
the  most  ellective  force,  Ibrtlnvitli  jtetitioned  "  the  session 
for  permission  to  introduce  an  instrument" — "a  bass-viol, 
or  two." 

When  tlie  session  would  not  grant  this,  they  and  those 
in  sympathy  had  three  elders  added  to  tlu;  session.  "Tiie 
])arty  in  the  session  o|)])osed  to  the  use  of  instruments  re- 
frained from  voting,"  and  the  choir  were  triumphant. 
This  flank  movement  was  lawful,  as  the  Old  School  (Jen- 
cral  Assend)ly  had  three.'  months  before  "left  to  each  ses- 
sion the  arranging  and  conducting  of  the  nnisic."  It  A'as 
also  one  remove  towards  Presbytca'ianism.  The  rulers  and 
not  the  ruled  were  the  voters  whom  the  choir  governed. 

On  the  lirst  Sabbath  in  Sei)tend)er,  1S4'),  "ji  bass-viol" 
was  "promoted"  (Judges  ix.  18)  oj)positc  to  their  pulpit, 
and  began  to  "cheer  CJod  and  man."  The  new  movement 
was  connnenced,  and  as  the  hymn  was  ])resented  on,  in, 
with,  or,  by,  the  "  thing  without  life-giving  sound,"  a  scene 
in  miniature,  similar  to  that  which  was  presented  on  May 
23d,  1848  (when  the  disrupted  ministers  left  the  Kirk 
Assembly  and  sang  their  psalm  to  the  tune  of  Balerma  as 
they  enteretl  Tanlield  Hall),  was  now  enacted. 

The  congregation  were  generally  seated,  the  choir  had 
placed  themselves  in  the  front  gallery  ;  and  as  the  violinist 
drew  his  bow,  and  the  holy  sounds  began  to  go  forth  in 
the  ])relude,  the  senior  elder,  Robert  Galbraith,  wlio  was 
tall  and,  as  the  Scotch  say,  "  black-aviced,"  turned  his 
head  over  his  shoulder,  looked  at  the  artists  and  then  at 
the  door.  But  a  le\v  weeks  betbre  this  day,  the  annual 
subscription  for  the  support  of  the  gospel  had  been  taken, 
25 


if 


386 


HISTORY   OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


and  as  he  found  himself  and  his  associates  vanquished  in 
"tliis  lioly  war,"  he  with(h'ew  under  a  franu'  of  nnml 
known  only  to  those  wliose  "liearts  tremble  for  the  ark  of 
God."     (ISam.iv.  I'D 

While  tliey  did  not  dance,  they  moved  to  and  from  the 
music,  and  in  a  few  minutes  above  four  hundred  dollar^i 
of  the  salary  was  outside  of  the  church.  A  iiu'cting  was 
called  ibr  the  next  evening,  Se])tember  8th.  To  one,  iickl 
on  the  11th,  a  paper,  settinjij  forth  their  grievances,  was 
reported,  and  on  the  15tii  they  formed  a  "society"  for 
worshij),  appointed  a  conmiittee  to  aj^ply  for  ])reacliin,ii;  to 
the  Associate  Kclbrmed  Presbytrry  of  Nvw  York,  bciian  a 
subscription  to  defray  expenses  and  jirovided  for  a  weekly 
prayer-meeting.  On  the  lUth  of  October  they  asked  for  an 
organization.  This  })aj)(>r  came  lielbre  that  court  Decem- 
ber 9th.  The  l\ev.  William  McLaren,  then  of  New  York, 
was  api)ointed  to  organize  on  the  22d.  Si\ty-four  certiii- 
catcs  were  presented,  and  ten  were  admitted  on  ])rofessi()n. 
Four  elders  were  installed,  and  on  DeccMuber  2.'>(1,  lS-15, 
the  second  Presbyterian  church  in  that  town  had  "a  name 
to  live."  They  were  "a  peculiar  })ct)j)le."  They  had  en- 
joyed their  P>il)les  and  their  catechisms,  and  the  "sweet 
psalms"  in  their  families,  but,  not  as  yet,  these  last  for 
seventeim  years  in  the  sanctuary. 

This  "anatomy  of  the  soul"  (Cal.)  went  to  the  very 
depths  of  their  emotions  when  the  first  j^salm  in  their  ser- 
vice of  song,  the  <S!)th,  was  announced — "(Jod's  mercies  I 
will  ever  sing."  As  Mr.  McLaren  read  his  selection  and 
repeated  this  line,  their  feelings  were  poured  forth  in  tears. 
The  aged  and  the  middle-aged,  men  and  women,  wcj)t 
through  the  first  stanza.  They  then  "sang  with  the  spirit 
and  with  the  understanding,  although,  j)robably,  not  with 
taste  and  harmony."  To  them,  lor  many  years,  the  Con- 
necticut had  been  as  "  the  rivers  of  Babylon  "  were  to  the 
captive  Jews  in  their  day.  But  now  the  scene  was  re- 
versed. After  the  use  for  seventeen  3'ears  of  the  songs  of 
the  land,  they  could  now  jiour  out  their  souls  unto  Jeho- 
vah, and  express  to  him,  as  "the  fruit  of  their  lips,"  their 
every  conscious  emotion  in  liis  own  hymns.  They  were 
"merry,"  and  few  now  can  aj)proximatc  the  a])preciatioii 
with  which  they  sang  as  they  "  went  on  their  way  re- 
joicing." 


li^inEfi 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


887 


oui  the 

jes,  ^vas 

•Inivjj  to 

I  wiH'kly 
.,1  Inr  ;m 
,  Dccciu- 

.'\v  York, 
IV  certili- 
i-otV'SSum. 
>:;a,  lS-15, 
"  a  wiuue 
^'  bad  en- 
^e  ''  sweet 
c  last  for 

the  very 
tlioir  ser- 
lueveies  I 
.'tion  aiul 
li  in  tears, 
lien,  NVi'i't 
the  sin^*' 


h  sones 


By  the  appointment  of  Presbytery  the  Rev.  Peter  Gor- 
don jn'eaclied  to  them  from  .huuiary  imtil  ^hiy,  1846. 
This  separation  from  tlie  other  church  was  not  temporary. 
"The  determined  spirit  of  one  ])arty  and  the  (k'cidcd  con- 
victions of  the  other,  made  an  ai^reemcnt  impossibk;." 

Jn  buihUnii  an  house  of  worshij),  they  found  no  sympa- 
thy at  lirst  from  the  com])any,  nor  from  those  around 
them  ;  even  athnission  for  tlie  measurement  of  the  lirst 
cliurcli  buildinuj  was  refused  to  their  connnittee. 

They  formed  a  chiss  of  operatives,  which  the  cornoration 
couhl  not  advantageously  spare,  and  for  the  nominal  sum 
of  one  dollar  from  them  they  afterwards  obtained  a  lot. 
Their  building  was  opened  i'or  worship  on  August  olst, 
184G.  A  call  extended  to  the  llev.  P.  Gordon  was  by 
him,  on  June  18th,  acce]>ted. 

Thus,  within  a  year  afu-r  the  first  tune  was  played  to 
please  those  who  had,  as  they  said,  ''denied  themselves  the 
pleasure  to  acconnnodate  you,"*  an  organized  church  had 
built  a  good  meeting-house,  called  a  pastor  on  a  salary  of 
$500,  and  had  added  more  than  twenty  to  its  membership. 
Mr.  Gordon  continued  i)astor  of  the  church  until  May  11th, 
ISol,  and  130  })ersons  were  admitted  during  this  period. 
In  tiiat  year  the  carpet  company  failed.  The  mills  were 
closed  for  nearly  two  years,  so  that  many  had  to  go  else- 
where for  subsistence.  Though  thirtv  were  admitted  to  the 
church  in  the  next  three  years,  when  they  had  no  pastor, 
yet  the  increase  was  less  than  the  oflsets  by  deaths  and  re- 
movals. ''The  bread  of  life"  was,  however,  to  them  pre- 
cious, and  Avliile  they  honored  the  faces  of  five  elders  who 
had  great  boldness  in  the  faith,  to  enjoy  it  in  the  midst  of 
all  their  trials,  they  called  jNIr.  James  McLaughlin  and 
promised  to  him  a  salary  of  $G00. 

This  he  accepted,  and  on  the  12th  of  September,  1854,  he 
became  their  pastor.  During  his  incumbency  of  less  than 
three  years,  seventy-four  were  "  added  to  the  church."  The 
spiritual  condition  of  his  Hock  was  good,  yet,  on  June  10th, 
1857,  at  his  own  request,  Presbytery  released  him,  and  he 
returned  to  Ireland. 


*  Here  was  an  honest  confession,  tliat,  in  playing  their  bass  viols  and 
orgrn,  it  was  not  '."or  the  glory  of  Uod,  nor  the  honor  of  Christ,  nor  the 
salvation  of  souls,  but  for  their  own  personal  and  social  "  pleasure." 
"We  denied  ourselves  the  pleasurCj  to  accommodate  you,"  that  is,  to  ac- 
commodate your  consciences. 


H' 


i 


388 


HISTORY   OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


(:  I 


On  July  17th,  1858,  the  Rev.  John  M.  Heron  was  called, 
and  on  November  ITtli  he  was  installed.  At  the  opcninp; 
of  the  civil  war  not  a  few  of  the  young  and  middle-aged 
men  enlisted.  Two  of  the  merchants  in  the  village  belonged 
to  the  church.  One  of  these  sold  liquor,  Avhich  brought  a 
standing  discord  between  him  and  tlie  pastor.  The  other, 
foreseeing  that  he  would  have  to  sell  to  the  uncm])l()ycd, 
now  urged  the  pastor  to  resign,  as  the  war  would  be  of  long 
duration  and  the  people  "could  not,"  as  he  said,  ''supi)ort 
preaching."  lie  brought  an  elder  to  press  this  argument 
upon  the  pastor,  and  they  were  successful.  While  he  sav\^ 
that  the  dealer  had  not  a  little  self-interest  in  the  counsel 
and  persuasion  which  he  tendered  to  him,  his  nature  and 
principles  constrained  him  to  "  rather  suffer  the  wrong." 
Whether  wisely  or  unwiseh^,  the  congregation,  although 
with  great  reluctance,  concurred  with  him  in  asking  his  re- 
lease on  the  11th  day  of  June,  18G1.  Mr.  Heron  was  a  logi- 
cal, terse  and  sound  doctrinal  preacher,  rather  than  a  popu- 
lar one.  lie  could  not  "  prophesy  smooth  things."  Under 
liis  ministry  sixty-one  were  admitted  to  the  church. 

While  "  we  know,  that  all  things  work  together  for  good  " 
under  the  "Chief  Shepherd ; "  to  human  wisdom,  when  we 
look  back  on  the  years  of  anxious  and  disheartening 
struggle,  which  followed  their  sei)aration,  it  would  seem 
better  that  he  had  remained.  lie  was  "  much  respected  by 
his  people,"  and  their  period  of  trial  and  darkness,  which 
then  began,  was  so  long  that  only  those  who  loved  the 
church  and  its  })rinciples  could  be  ex])ected  to  remain. 

In  January,  1864.,  they  called  the  Rev.  John  Jamieson. 
Their  call  he  did  not  accept.  A  similar  fate  awaited  their 
call  made  to  Mr.  W.  H.  Torrence,  on  September  lOtli,  1865. 
They  were  apparently  more  successful  with  the  Rev.  W.  B. 
Sutherland,  who  was  especially  a  fine  speaker,  and  was  in- 
stalled on  July  18th,  1866.  In  him  they  did  not  "entertain 
an  angel,"  but  a  sinner,  that  "  destroyed  much  good." 

For  a  season  he  concealed  his  slavery  to  strong  drink,  but 
"it  could  not  be  kept  secret."  Some  withdrew,  and  the 
wonder  is,  that,  after  the  trials  of  the  past  few  years,  the 
church  did  not  ask  to  be  disbanded.  After  some  ten  months, 
notwithstanding  official  admonitions,  vows  and  pledges,  he 
had  to  resign.  The  pulpit  was  declared  vacant  on  June  1st, 
1867. 


^-m^/'m 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


889 


1  called, 

Ue-aired 
clonjicd 
•ou<ilit  11 
ic  OtlU'V, 

aploycd, 
c  of  ionu; 
'  support 
^vcvument 
Lc  he  savv- 
c  counsel 
\ture  and 
c  ^YVong." 
althou«^h 
ng  his  le- 
pras a  logi- 
\n  a  popu- 
^."    Under 

I'ch. 

r  lor  good" 

1,  ^Yhen  we 

lieavtening 

oukl  seem 

^pectcd  by 

^ess,  winch 

loved  the 

remain. 

Jamieson. 

uited  their 

19th,  1865. 

Rev.W-B. 

nd  was  in- 

"  entertain 

food." 

.  drink,  b^^t 

kv,  and  the 
vears,  the 

xm  months, 
i)ledges,  he 
m  June  1st, 


The  congrcpration  asked  supply,  wliich  was  granted,  and 
a  call  was,  on  December  2()tli,  1<S()7,  i)resented  to  the  Kev. 
George  M.  Hall,  which,  on  April  7th,  1SG8,  he  accc])ted. 

He  was  not  only  above  sixty  years  of  age  then,  but  also 
enfeebled  by  a  lingering  disease;  yet  he  was  measurably 
successful.  "  lie  Avas  an  earnest,  excellent  man.  He  was 
noted  as  a  preacher,  for  regularity  and  clearness  in  the 
framing  of  his  discourses  and  impressiveness  of  delivery." 
During  his  ministry  of  four  and  a  half  years,  sixty-two 
were  admitted  to  the  church.  His  resignation  took  efiect 
on  June  30th,  1872. 

As  we  have  seen  the  manner  in  which  Thompsonville 
congregation  was  gathered,  so,  during  an  ajipointment  there, 
as  supply,  ii-  1846,  the  writer  embraced  the  opportunity  of 
visitinir  Boston.  In  it  then  the  name  Presbyterian  had 
been  ex  '!t  for  seventeen  years.  And  so  it  would  have 
been  left,  had  it  not  l)een  for  the  request  of  a  man  who  had 
previously  been  a  slave  of  strong  drink,  but  was  now  an 
abstainer.  He  requested  "a  Scotch  praeching,"  for  he  had 
heard  none  for  two  years.  Consequently,  a  small  hall 
(connected  with  the  then  "  Lowell  Institute")  was  ob- 
tained and  occupied  for  public  worship  on  Friday  even- 
ing, March  6th. 

The  persons  convened  were  to  each  other  nearly  all 
strangers.  A  common  impulse,  however,  actuated  them, 
as 

"  Those  strains,  wliich  once  did  sweet  in  Zion  glide," 

and  which  had  made  their  parental  habitations  vocal,  were 
now  employed,  as  they  had  not  been  in  Boston  (excepting  by 
Mr.  AMnslow  and  other  Sandemanians)  since  August,  1786, 
and  they  desired  to  know  where  and  liow  they  could  be 
statedly  sup])lied.  To  an  application  addressed  through  Rev. 
Dr.  McCarrol,  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Presbytery  of  New 
York,  eleven  names  were  subscribed,  but  from  it  no  benefit 
was  enjoyed.  In  May,  from  them  two  letters  were  received, 
stating  that  if  anything  Avas  to  be  done,  to  them  the  Avriter 
must  return,  and  they  would  "  stand  by  him,"  and  they 
did  so.  Arriving  on  the  2()th  of  May,  a  place  to  meet  in 
became  necessar}'.  It  was  "Anniversary  week,"  and  church' 
goers  were  in  the  city  by  thousands,  so  that  for  the  time 
being  some  halls  were  occupied  on  the  occasion  as  dormi- 


t    ■     ! 


390 


HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


II 


I 


torief?.  By  perseverance,  under  the  Divine  blessing,  we 
obtaincil,  on  the  seventeenth  uppliciition,  the  use  of  a  small 
hall  at  oG  Washington  street.  We  advertised.  The  strung 
man,  Congregationalism,  had  long  been  quiet  in  his  pos- 
session of  "  the  Mount  Zion  of  the  whole  earth  "  (so  called 
by  the  Rev.  Dr.  King,  of  Dublin),  and  now  he  "awoke  "  to 
zeal,  if  not  "  to  righteousness." 

On  June  4th  the  Puritan  Recorder^  the  best  of  New  Eng- 
land papers,  put  on  record : 

^^ Presbyter ianism  in  Boston. — On  Saturday  it  was  an- 
nounced that  there  would  be  public  worship  after  tlie 
Presbyterian  form,  at  Chapman  place  in  School  street,  and 
all  friendly  to  the  collection  of  a  Presbyterian  church  in 
this  city  were  invited  to  attend.  Whether  all  such  at- 
tended, and  who  they  are,  we  are  not  informed." 

In  another  paper  "  New  York  "  was  represented  as  "  su- 
perintending Boston  " — an  audacious  interference !  This 
metropolis,  in  1846,  contained  about  130,000  inhabitants. 
Some  of  the  evangelical  pulpits  were  then  occupied  by  men 
of  distinction.  To  omit  mentioning  others,  such  among 
the  orthodox  were  Drs.  Blagden,  Adams,  Kirk,  Watcrbury, 
and  especially  the  Rev.  W.  Rogers,  a  native  of  Cuernsey. 
He  was  then  a  force  in  the  pulpit  there,  his  large  church 
in  Winter  street  being  usually  packed ;  Drs.  Sharpe,  Neale 
and  Baron  Stowe,  Calvinists,  among  the  Baptists;  Bishop 
Eastburn  and  Dr.  Vinton  among  the  Episcopalians.  Beside 
those  held  statedly  in  the  other  churches,  the  Old  South 
prayer  meeting,  at  eight  a.  m.,  wag  daily  open  to  all.  A 
young  ladies'  association  met  monthly,  or  oftener,  in  which 
prayer  was  offered ;  and  among  other  ])ractical  works,  some 
of  the  sermons  of  the  Rev.  James  Hamilton,  of  London, 
were,  with  his  sanction,  read.  Smoking  in  the  streets  was 
extensively  prohibited,  and  in  one  instance  a  profane 
swearer  w^as  fined.  Drunkenness  had  not  yet  flooded  the 
city,  and  lager  beer  was  then  unknown  in  it.  Our  modern 
gambling  "  hells  "  were  watched  closely  by  the  compara- 
tively small  force  of  police.  "  The  South  cove  "  had  then 
a  limited  growth  of  "  young  Arabs,"  and  but  seldom  was 
the  Irish  heard  in  the  streets.  Still,  vice  was  increasing. 
The  later  occupants  of  the  Huguenot  Presbyterian  meet- 
ing-house had,  in  1843,  ramified  into  three  papal  churches. 
With  them  and  their  increase  a  bishop  was  nestled  down, 


i  K:i4  \ 


IN   NEW   ENGLAND. 


391 


ig,  we 
,  small 
strong 
is  pos- 
i  calkd 
.ke  "  to 

w  Eng- 

vas  an- 
t'ter  the 
eet,  and 
urch  in 
such  at- 

as  "  su- 
e!    This 
iiibitants. 
1  by  men 
h  among 
atcrbury, 
jUiernsey. 
•e  church 
[pc,  Keale 
;  Bishop 
Is.  Beside 
|ld  South 
lo  aU.  _  A 
in  which 
,rks,  some 
Bondon, 
,rcets  was 
profane 
•odcd  the 
r  modern 
jcompara- 
had  then 
dom  was 
Increasing, 
an  meet- 
[churches. 
.ed  down, 


while  his  "sisters  "  from  tlie  Somerville  nunnery  were  com- 
passing the  unwary  to  make  i)roselytes. 

As  ho  had  been  instrumental  in  the  banishment  beyond 
the  Mississippi  of  the  pantheist,  Abner  Kneeland,  but  a 
few  years  buforo,  Hosea  Ballou  was  now  a  force  in  13oston, 
and  the  head  of  nearly  one  thousand  societies  of  Univer- 
salists  in  New  England,  while  Theodore  Parker  was  di.'*^cnt 
in  propagating  in  his  "twenty-eighth  Congregational  so- 
ciety "  (Jerman  Transcendentalism  ;  and  for  its  nearly  one 
hundred  and  eighty  societies  in  Massachusetts,  Unitarian- 
ism  had  wrested  about  ninety-six  of  these  and  their  church 
estates  from  the  Trinitarians,  by  their  parish  pine  board 
(pew)  patronage.  Amidst  these,  beside  others,  who,  under 
the  presence  and  by  the  working  of  "  the  prince  of  the 
power  of  the  air,"  formed  the  lower  grades  of  civilization, 
we  began  to  gather  those  who  were  then  "  strangers  in  a 
strange  land."  Such  was  the  competing  zeal  of  the  city 
missionaries  of  the  leading  sects  in  Boston,  that  in  it  we 
found  but  three  families  of  Presbyterians,  which  had  not 
been  visited.  The  others  did  not  all,  however,  remain 
among  their  new  friends.  M'here  the  Shorter  Catechism 
and  the  I'salms  had,  by  parental  fidelity,  been  ingrained 
into  their  minds  in  their  youth,  the  choice  of  the  worship 
of  the  God  of  their  fathers,  when  contrasted  with  "  the 
customs  of  the  churches "  in  New  England  (excepting 
where  they  had  become  entangled  with  social  alliances),  it 
was  not  difficult  to  make. 

Servants  were  sometimes  allured  by  their  employers. 
"Sarah,  if  you  don't  go  to  my  church,  you  may  leave  my 
house."  "Get  who  you  jjlease,  this  day  week,  Mrs.  D. ;  I 
will  go  to  my  own  church,"  was  the  reply  of  a  '*  Derry  " 
girl.  It  had  a  more  business  air  than  the  answer  of  a 
"lassie,"  who,  on  return  from  church,  Avas  asked  by  her 
employer  how  she  liked  the  meeting.  She  had  been 
amongst  those  who  were  entertained  with  the  organ,  and 
pensively  replied :  "  It's  an  awfu'  way  to  spend  the  Sab- 
bath, yon." 

A  ease  I  mention  where  the  persons  were  not  servants. 
!Mrs.  T.  attended  the  services  at  Park  street  church,  enter- 
ing after  the  organ  had  ceased  playing,  and  leaving  when 
the  sermon  was  done.  Her  husband,  a  man  "  mighty  in 
the  Scriptures,"  attended  at  Essex  street  church,  made  ap- 


(I 


392 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


1,1' ' 

k, 


plication  for  fellowship,  was  informed  by  the  pastor  that 
he  and  the  examining  committee  were  now  ready  to  receive 
lifm,  and  replied, ''  JJr.  Adams,  I  am  plad  to  hear  that,  but 
1  have  two  questions  to  ask,  to  which  1  request  positive 
ansvers."  Assent  Avas  tiiven.  "  Do  you  believe  in  the  im- 
putation of  the  p;uilt  of  Adam's  first  sin  to  his  posterity?" 
"  I  do  not."  "  Do  you  beli'  :e  in  the  imi)Utation  of  Christ's 
riiijhtL'OUsness  to  hispeopK.?"  "  I  do  not."  "Then  you 
can  never  be  my  minister."  Mr.  T.  afterwards  served  un- 
til the  day  of  his  death,  nearly  twenty  years,  as  a  ruling 
elder  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  Boston.  He  did 
not  "  despise  his  birthright." 

An  impediment  was,  during  summer,  encountered.  The 
])rejudice  of  race  was  invoked.  There  exists  two  sides  to 
the  "  Irish  sea,"  and  although  it  is  only  twelve  miles  Irom 
the  Mull  of  Kintyre,  in  .Scotland,  to  Fairhead,  in  Ireland, 
yet  the  Scotch  and  Irish  are  not  much  nearer  to  each  other 
in  their  feelings  of  nationality  than  are  the  two  ends  of  a 
fiddle  to  each  other,  ^\'hen,  on  July  25th,  the  pioneer  re- 
turned with  his  family,  he  found  this  prejudice  in  full 
operation.  With  their  preachers  (and  justly)  generally, 
both  are  enamoured  ;  and  as  there  Avas  now  a  prospect  of 
the  gathering  of  a  Presbyterian  church,  individuals  of  each 
people  aimed  to  have  one  from  their  own  side  of  the  Irish 
sea.  While  on  the  one  side,  as  they  debated  the  matter 
from  week  to  week,  when  one  man  wanted  to  "  have 
preaching  in  Boston  of  an  high  order,  yes  (said  he),  as 
high  as  the  top  of  the  State  House,"  he  was  answered  that 
"the  preaching  which  they  were  then  hearing  might  do  in 
Scotland,  or  out  West,  but  it  would  never  do  in  Boston." 

This  speech,  made  l)y  an  f)rthodox  adherent,  if  not  a 
member,  an  admirer  of  Channing,  while  in  harmony  with 
the  other  as  to  the  honiage  due  to  the  sensibilities  of  Bos- 
ton "  culture,"  stranded  their  enterprises  on  "  the  rociv  of 
(Uvision." 

The  Hibernian  held  the  Scot  at  bay,  and  although  the 
wisdom  of  the  author  of  the  "  Conllict  of  Ages "  was 
invoked,  which,  lest  Presbyterianism  might  obtain  a  foot- 
hold in  "the  Mount  Zion  of  the  whole  (^artii,"  was  cheer- 
fully given,  yet  only  on  condition  tliat  when  the  foreigner 
should  come  he  must  be  identified  with  the  said  gentleman 
and  his  Association. 


! 

T""^ 

IN    NEW  ENGLAND. 


893 


By  their  agitation  "  a  mixed  miiltitiide  "  of  five  persons, 
Episcoi)alians.  J^aptists  and  Orthodox,  slon,<ihed,  and  the 
pioneer  was  allowed  for  a  time  to  proceed  in  his  "  work  of 
tiie  ministry,"  To  him,  on  the  first  Sabbath  in  October, 
o])position  l)ecame  a  reality.  A  Mr.  John  Fisher,  wlio 
liad  been  dei^^adcd  from  tiie  Presbyterian  ministry  for  for- 
nication,  and  who  hailed  from  the  Socinian  Presbytery  of 
Armagh  in  his  native  land,  had  a  hall  oi)ened  in  Boston. 

When  the  Unitarians  or  Arians  in  Ireland  were  cast  out 
by  the  Synod,  they  associated  themselves  and  laid  claim 
to  all  the  ])owers  of  ordination,  of  which  they  had  been 
judicially  deprived. 

On  his  first  Sabbath  only  seven  of  his  nationality 
attended  the  Presl)yterian  place  of  worsiiip.  For  months 
his  eloquence  drew  large  audiences  from  the  floating  popu- 
lation of  the  city,  and  while  financially  assisted  b}^  ri(;h 
Unitarians,  as  well  as  by  some  of  his  own  countrymen,  he 
declared  tiiat  he  did  "not  want  the  co-operation  of  any 
Trinitarians."  This  fleshy  and  "  lleshly  "  man  "finished 
his  course  "  here  in  twenty-five  months,  and  then  went  to 
Cannelton,  in  Indiana. 

After  fourteen  months'  labor,  on  the  18th  of  July,  1847, 
the  writer  was  insttdled  as  pastor  of  the  church  which  ho 
had  been  instrumental  in  gathering.  His  work  was 
lal)orious.  His  peojile,  living  in  Boston,  Charlestown, 
Uhelsea,  Cambridge,  Brookline,  Iloxl)ury  and  Dorchester, 
he  had  almost  literally  to  "go  out  into  the  highways  and 
compel  them  to  come  in."  Then,  before  the  introduction 
of  iiorse  cars,  excepting  some  ])onderous  omnibuses  on  a 
ft'w  streets,  his  common  mode  of  locomotion  was  "  the  foot 
and  walker  "  line. 

Six  years  of  prosperity,  spiritual  and  outward,  were 
granted  to  the  congregation,  and  if  it  only  could  have  ob- 
tained a  church  edifice,  it  would  soon  have  become  a  force 
in  the  city. 

As  an  exotic,  its  hired  halls,  and  simple  Scriptural  wor- 
ship were  not  entertaining  to  those  who  thought  it  good  to 
be  where  they  could  "rejoice  at  the  sound  of  the  organ" 
(Job  xxi.  12).  Ui)on  the  use  of  the  varied  means  of  grace 
the  Divine  blessing  extensively  rested.  Parents  wci'e 
measurably  faithful  to  their  vows,  the  i)rayer-meeting  and. 
Habbath-school  were  well  attended,  and  "  the  house  of 
God  "  was  not  "  forsaken." 


i    ■ 

i;  I 


394 


HISTORY  OP  TRESBYTERIANISM 


■  f'-^^-m 


Hi- 


■  "»'•  (1 


Still,  a  chanpje  came.  "While  a  true  Presbyterian  can  say 
with  Calvin,  "Nobody  has  y:3t  aj)pcare(l  who  could  ])rovo 
that  wo  have  altered  any  one  thing  which  (Jod  h;is  com- 
manded," yet,  being  men  "of  like  passions  with  others," 
they  at  times  ljecon)e  extensively  influenced  by  their  sur- 
roundings. Amoiig  })ers(jns  coming  from  Scotland,  Ire- 
land, varied  British  colonics,  tiie  Mitldle  and  other  States, 
from  local  habits,  in  the  exercise  of  religious  liberty,  I'ric- 
tion  must  necessarily  ensue,  and  the  first  i)crmancnt  "  rock 
of  division"  was  our  ignorance  of  "the  Aughinsaugii 
Bond."  Dis])utati()n  and  separation  began  and  continued. 
In  April,  18')o,  it  was  deemed  advisable  to  open  a  station 
in  East  Boston. 

In  June,  1853,  some  families  of  the  Reformed  Presbyte- 
rians resident  in  Boston,  were,  upon  request,  visited  by  the 
Ilev.  Mr.  Stevenson,  of  New  York,  their  manner  of  meeting 
in  "  society  "  was  established,  and  in  due  time  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Lawson  (from  New  Brunswick)  took  charge  of  them  as 
stated  supply. 

While  these  divisions  gleaned  the  field  more  thoroughly, 
the}''  induced  weakness.  This  was  done,  especially,  by 
lowering  the  standard  of  discipline.  Towers  of  refuge  were 
now  opened  to  delinquents,  and  another  division  was,  in 
the  autunm  of  1853,  made  by  the  api)lication  of  it.  An 
obstinate  man  was  visited  by  a  committee  of  the  session. 
While  he  acknowledged  (what  he  could  not  deny)  his  oc- 
casional drunkenness,  he  raged  because  one  of  the  elders 
who  visited  him  was  an  Irishman.  Tl.is  he  considered 
unpardonable,  "  that  a  man  of  that  nationality  should  rule 
a  Scotchman,"  and  he  sought  relief.  By  consorting  with 
two  of  his  countrymen,  also  lovers  of  strong  drink,  he  with 
them  projected  the  importation  of  some  one  from  their  na- 
tive land,  and  events  concurred  to  prosper  the  enterprise. 
In  the  congregation  one  man  had  been  elevated  to  tlie 
eldership  who  was  more  than  full  of  zeal  for  the  Free 
Church  of  Scotland.  He  became  exasperated  when  per- 
sons from  the  Kirk  applied  for  membershij).  "You  are 
residuaries ;  rcsiduaries,  there  are  no  Cliristians  in  the 
residuary  cluirch  "  was  the  note  on  which  he  harped. 

After  due  examination  of  an  unusually  intelligent  indi- 
vidual from  the  Kirk  for  membership,  to  the  reception  of 
,whom  he  made  obstinate  refiistance,  the  other  four  elders 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


895 


can  say 
I  pvovo 
LS  com- 
jthers," 
uir  sur- 
ud,  Ire- 
i-  States^, 
L'tv,  iVic- 
it "  rofk 
linsau^h 
ntinued. 
I  station 

?resbyte- 

id  by  the 

[  meeting 

Uev.  Mr. 

them  as 


told  him  tliat "  cither  thoy  would  rcsifjn  or  he  must."  lie 
left,  and  soon  found  in  the  above-mentioned  men  suitable 
association,  and  they  must  now  have  a  church.  Commenc- 
ing by  applying  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Forrester,  of  Halifax, 
N.  S.,  they  were  by  him  informed  that  the  writer  was 
"  competent  to  minister  to  all  the  Presbyterians  in  lioston." 
David  Thompson  then  renewed  their  apj)lication,  signing 
it  as  a  ruling  elder.  They  were  then  referred  to  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Bonar,  of  Kdinburgh,  whose  first  letter  they  could  not 
read,  only  "there  was  a  minister  coming." 

Another  application  was  answered  in  ]ilain  handAvriting, 
and  it  was  reverberated  by  the  CHohe  of  Toronto,  that  "  the 
Scotch  in  Boston  were  about  to  have  a  Secjtch  minister." 
He  came  on  the  9th  day  of  December,  1853. 

Notwithstanding  this  force  of  com])etition  the  First  Asso- 
ciate Reformed  church  prosjjcred  until  secession  was  inaugu- 
rated. After  long  overtures  between  the  Associate  and  the 
Associate  Reformed  churches,  the  one  of  which  sang  the 
Psalms  of  David  and  the  other  sang  David's  Psalms,  a 
union  was  consununated  on  May  2Gth,  1858.  Into  this  the 
First  church  of  Boston  (while  continuing  an  integral  ])art 
of  the  Associate  Reformed  Synod  of  New  York)  heartily 
entered,  and  since  that  date  the  denomination  has  been 
designated  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  of  North 
America. 

The  May  anniversaries  in  Boston  of  the  Congregational- 
ist  family  have  been  mentioned,  and  while  attending  the 
Unitarian  one  in  Federal  street  church  on  a  Wednesday 
evening  in  1847,  the  attention  of  the  writer  was  especially 
arrested  by  an  episode. 

In  what  would  have  been  called  in  Trinitarian  churches 
"  a  narrative  of  the  state  of  religion,"  the  speakers  here  pre- 
sented their  sectarian  groAvth.  One  from  Portland  had 
encouraging  things  to  say,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev. 
Mr.  B.,  from  Baltimore.  He  was  all  aglow,  and  while  set- 
ting forth  ills  attachment  to  the  shade  of  Channing,  assured 
his  audience  that  tidings  from  that  s})ot,  since  their  last 
anniversary,  had  made  his  "  heart  heavy."  "  I  heard  (said 
he)  that  this,  our  holy  and  beautiful  house,  was  to  be  sold 
and  given  to  merchandise,  and  my  heart  sunk  .vithin  me. 
Upon  making  inquiry  I  found  it  was  not  so,  and  my  heart 
rejoiced,  for  this  is  our  holj  and  beautiful  house  in  which 


;'    \ 


■   t 


396 


HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


■J 


'  »■ 


our  fatliors  wors]»i|)po(l,  and  here  a  Chnnning  breathed  and 
hiinu'd."  When  he  had  thus  eonchided,  a  most  stran},'o 
expression  of  countenance  was  seen  iVoni  the  IVont  of  the 
side  ;;alK'ry  over  much  ot  the  house,  and  a  most  ominous 
jsilenee  rei^zned  lor  an  unusual  period  of  time.  The  regular 
course  of  spei'ch-making  was  arrested  until  relief  eanie 
from  Deacon  S.,  who  gave  to  them  three  sentences  in  Latin, 
assuring  those  who  coukl  untlerstand  him  'Hhat  the  land 
was  entailed  and  could  not  be  sold."  This  i)r(jduced  a  halo 
unmistakable  upon  the  countenances  of  the  audience,  and 
their  conference  was  resumeth 

In  May,  1S4S,  in  tiieir  anniversaries,  nothing  of  this  na- 
ture could  be  heard,  and  after  much  consideration  for 
months,  the  matter  was  suljmitted  to  John  C  Adams, 
Esq.  His  father,  who  led  tlie  trials  against  the  Masons  iu 
the  A[organ  ease,  was  well  known  as  "  Old  Harry  "  Adams, 
of  Canandaigua,  N.  Y.,  and  he  himself  had  filled  the  chief 
chair  in  tiie  Law  School  in  Harvard  University  p/'o  tna.  for 
ten  months.  He  knew  that  the  occupants  had  i»roposed  to 
sell  it,  but  could  not  give  satisfactory  title.  When  his  copy 
of  the  deed  as  found  in  the  registry  was  presented  to  Ilufus 
Choatc,  showing  its  design,  as  we  have  ])reviously  seen, 
solelv  for  Presbyterian  use  forever,  he,  after  examination, 
declared,  "  If  you  had  one-half  of  Boston,  you  could  not 
make  a  better  deed." 

As  the  landed  estate  from  the  third  Wednesday  in  Sep- 
tember, 1783,  had  de  jure  tiW  now  and  de  facto  till  178G,  be- 
longed to  the  Associate  Reformed  congregation  of  Boston 
under  the  Synod  of  New  York,  as  it  was  the  gift  of  a  por- 
tion of  his  substance  to  Almighty  God  by  John  Little,  the 
owner,  in  1735,  to  be  enjoyed  l)y  those  of  like  faith  until 
the  end  of  time,  the  beneficiaries,  to  whom  it  was  Cby  one 
of  the  most  solemn  transactions  known  among  men  in  the 
alienation  of  property)  conveyed  under  the  brc^ad  shield  of 
British  civilization,  where  "  conscience  "  has  not  become 
"  seared  as  with  a  hot  iron,"  were  bound  from  generation 
to  generation  to  prevent  the  perversion  of  the  trust  from  its 
charitable  use.* 

*  Seven  men  in  1854  declared  under  their  corporate  oath  that  it  was  a 
"species  of  property  which  was  not  the  subject  of  any  exchangeable  or 
marketable  value,"  because  it  was  set  to  the  use  of  religion. 


IN    NEW    ENGLAND. 


397 


Actinj;  under  tliis  hcliof,  for  our  property,  wc  ontorod 
Buit.  Jiut,  bc'l'oro  (loin;;  so,  wc  nMiuuvd  lo  liuvo  an  Attor- 
ncy-Clcncnil  of  the  Connnonwealtli  appointed,  as  the  then 
existing  ran^^e  of  ecjuity  was  inad('(|uate  i'or  our  case. 
Nothing  of  tliis  nature,  and  ])rol)a'tly  no  ease  of  e(|ual 
uia^niitude  and  importance  had  jireviously  been  tried  in 
Massachusetts. 

Tliis  appointment,  by  lol)l)ying  a  little,  our  counsel, 
^Ifssrs.  Choate  and  Adams,  obtained. 

An  Act  to  establish  an  Attorney-deneral  was  approved 
by  the  Governor  on  May  1st,  1S4I).  "Section  8th.  He  is 
to  suj)ervis(>  all  fuiHN  I'or  jtublic  charities." 

We  j)roved  our  identity  and  the  manner  in  wliich,  in 
Septendx'r,  17(So,  said  congregation,  with  their  trust,  eamo 
to  the  Presbytery  at  Peterboro,  N.  II.  When  served  with 
a  leiral  notice  of  our  claim,  th(>  fact  did  not  astoni.;h  tho 
occupants  so  much  as  how  we  ol)taini'd  our  information. 
Tins  was  to  them  a  surprise.  To  a  sermon  ])rcachc(l  by 
the  Ivcv.  Dr.  CMiaunin^f  at  the  ordination  of  the  Rev.  Ezra 
Stiles  (lai.nctt,  on  .June  3()th,  1^2-^,  when  jirinted,  was 
added  by  hitn  "A  Memoir  of  the  Federal  Street  ("hurch 
and  S<x'iety.'  The  sermon  was  reprinted  in  Enp;land,  but 
the  memoir  'vas  not.  In  the  libraries  in  Boston  could  be 
found  co])ics  of  the  Enirlish  edition  of  the  sermon,  but  not 
one  of  the  Boston  edition  with  tlu;  memoir.  They  saw, 
after  it  was  })ublished,  that  common  honesty  would  say, 
"  This  is  Presbyterian  j)ro])erty."  Hence,  as  it  could  do 
them  anything;  else  ])ut  good,  the  circulation  being  almost 
wholly  among  Unitarians,  they  concealed  and  suppressed 
the  memoir. 

The  watchful  eye  of  Adams,  who  had  advised  us  to  buy 
a  pew  in  said  church,  so  as  to  have  good  standing  in  the 
corporation,  however,  found  one  of  the  concealed  copies. 
This  surprised  them.  Their  greatest  advantage,  however, 
lay  in  the  possession  of  our  records.  Not  the  records  of 
the  session,  for  these  at  times  registered  human  delinquen- 
cies in  relation  to  the  reproduction  of  the  species,  which, 
while  they  were  not  under  the  control  of  the  members  of 
this  "  religious  society,"  did  some  of  them  no  honor,  and  as 
John  Huss  and  Jerome  of  Prague  met  "  a  warm  reception  " 
from  the  Council  of  Constance,  so,  the  immaculate  doc- 
tor sent  these  "forth  to  the  light"  where  no  chemical 


« , 


I 


398 


niSTORY   OF   PRKSnYTERrANISM 


Pi    1 


skill  could  roprodncc  tho  patios.  This  statcmont  was 
HKido  1)V  the  Kt'V.  Dr.  Giinnclt  to  tho  Ucv.  Dr.  Alexander 
W.  Mc("'lun". 

While  the  suit  was  in  prou'vess  our  counsel  were  promised 
by  theirs  access  to  the  husincss  records  uf  the  cougrcjjfatitjn 
from  1774  till  1803. 

These,  when  they  had  boon  inspected  by  the  occupants, 
for  them  only  made  hi'd  worsi-,  and  in  order  to  make 
a  clear  (hnilaratiou  by  way  of  denial  in  relation  to  the  pos- 
session of  them,  the  ex|)edient  of  carryinj^'  them  across  tho 
stre(!t  was  adoi)t(tl.  'hiey  were  no  longer  in  Unitarian 
I)ossession,  but  were  placed  "  in  safe<iuard  "  in  the  iron  safe 
of  an  adherent  of  the  New  Jerusalem  ('hurch.  This  fjavo 
scope  to  the  actor,  their  junior  counsel.  Wlien  the  writer 
called  for  them  other  volumes  were  produced  from  a 
trunk,  and  when  it  was  saiil,  "  None  of  these  is  the  riyht 
one,"  tho  gentleman's  face  took  awry  shapes. 

He  was  "  sorry  to  say  it  was  once  there,  but  it  was  not 
now.  It  was  f2;ono."  When  asked  if  there  liad  boon  any 
lire  in  the  buildin*:;  to  have  destroyed  it,  he  said,  "  None  in 
his  apartment."  The  incjuiror  did  not  then  comprehend 
tho  emotions  of  soul  which  wore  now  playing  contortions 
on  a  usually  jdeasant  countenance. 

At  trial,  the  actor's  allidavit  was  put  thus  on  record: 

"  When  1  next,  after  some  months,  went  to  the  trunk 
(containintij  the  books  and  i)a})crs  of  tho  society),  it  Avas  in 
search  of  said  quarto  MSS.  volume;  but  to  my  ,<;reat  sur- 
prise and  annoyance  it  was  not  to  bo  found  in  tho  said 
trunk,  nor  after  tho  most  diligent  search  and  in(iuiry  has  it 
ever  been  found  since. 

"  Its  disappearance  is  entirely  inexplicable  to  me,  and  I 
cannot  recall  the  least  hint  or  clue  which  might  lead  to  its 
recovery. 

"  During  the  interval  which  elapsed  between  my  return- 
ing the  trunk  to  Mr.  B.,  and  my  subsequent  recurrence 
to  it,  I  should  have  boon  willing  to  swear,  that  tho  said 
volume  was,  with  the  other  books  and  records,  in  tho  said 
trunk,  and  my  astonishment  at  not  finding  it  was  equal  to 
the  confidence  with  which  I  expected  to  find  it.     G.  S.  H. 

"  Boston,  Fel)ruary  28th,  1854.  Sworn  to  before  me,  S. 
B.,  Justice  of  the  Peace." 

This  oath  was  taken,  we  are  not  told  by  what.    While, 


IN   NEW  ENGLAND. 


899 


^i  was 
xiindcr 


I 


■oiuisci 


(.'gatiDU 


•upants, 
()  luako 
llu;  pos- 
•rorts  the 
uitavian 
iron  sale 
his  ^avo 
10  writer 
I'roiu  a 
the  right 

,  -was  not 
boer\  any 
''  None  in 
inprohcnd 
ntortions 

L'cord : 

,ho  trunk 
it  was  in 
rcat  suv- 
tho  said 
iry  has  it 

and  I 
lead  to  its 

|y  rcturn- 

-currcnco 

the  said 

the  said 

equal  to 

g!  S.  II. 
ire  me,  S. 

While, 


amonp:  Trinitarians,  "an  oath  forms  the  adamnntino  chain 
•\vhieh  hinds  the  inte^irity  of  man  to  the  ihrone  of  (Jod," 
tiiis  one  was  perfectly  safe;  not  only  as  to  any  fear  of  his 
"appearing  at  the  judijtnent-seat  of  Christ"  {'2  Cor.  v.  10), 
hut  hy  the  manner  in  which  tin-  expectation  of  the  depo- 
nent was  (>clipsi'(l  hy  his  astonishnu-nt  resiing  on  his  con- 
fidence. IJis  astonishment,  his  expectation  luul  confi- 
dence were  un([Ucstionably  equal. 

"When  truth  into  the  earth  was  born, 
Slie  crept  into  ii  liinitin;,'-horn, 
The  liinitiT  came,  a  lilnst  was  hlown, 
J!iit  wliere  trntli  went  was  never  known." 

Hero  was,  in  the  opinion  of  tho  clerk  of  the  court,  the 
turninii-point  in  the  trial.  "  Tlu!  man  who  spirit(>d  away 
vour  records  was  the  one  who  caused  you  to  lose  vour 
case. 

These  records  have  lon<?  since  been  taken  to  Arlinp;ton 
Street  church,  and,  to  assist  in  the  pr(^paration  of  these 
annals,  ins  counsel  were  informed  that  the  writer  could 
"have  access  to  tliern,  if  ho  would  promise  not  to  use  their 
contents  against  our  sjioilers." 

As  to  the  allidavit,  there  was  no  poriury  in  makinp^  it. 
Tho  expectation  and  astonishment  wcrc^  precisely  e(pial, 
iind  wore  regulated  by  the  facts  on  which  his  contidenco 
rested.  He  was  "  fully  persuaded  in  his  own  mind."  He 
told  the  truth,  if  not  tho  wiiole  truth.  Tho  records  woro 
ronioved,  as  hero  stated,  hut  some  iViend  mi<j;ht  jKissibly 
have  done  for  him  the  carryiufr  when  he  did  not  know  the 
time  of  transit  nor  tho  ])laco  of  doi)osit. 

After  hoarinti  tho  allidavit,  ^Ir.  Clioato  addressed  tho 
deponent.  "  ^Nlr.  II.,  I  do  not  dcsiro  to  have  any  un- 
])leasantncss  here,  but,  I  ask,  as  tho  records  were  removed, 
do  you  think  that  they  were  abstracted  by  my  clients?" 
"Oh,  no,"  was  tho  reply.  A  facetious  smile  played  over 
the  countenance  of  tho  elotjuont  man  when  ho  received 
this  reply  to  his  (juestion. 

An  earnest  trial  l)y  tho  al)]est  tident  at  the  Boston  ])ar, 
of  a  most  extensive  and  elaborate  cuiso,  roachin<?  into  a 
variety  of  facts  and  fundamental  principles  in  law,  lasted 
four  days.     R.  H.  Dana,  Jr.,  whose  forte  lay  in  ships  and 


:  f 


§. 


400 


HISTORY   OP  PRKSBYTERIANISM 


h!<l'l''     Lid 


fe'--: 


churches,  occiipiod  a  part  of  two  dnys,  wliil(>  Riifus  Choate 
spoke  contiimouslv  I'or  three  liours  and  ten  minutes  with 
a  cknirness  and  an  earnestness  peculiarly  his  own.  Tiic 
repiv  of  the  senior  counsel  for  the  det'eiKhuits,  while  )»ro- 
found  in  conij)arisou  with  the  "ulitterinu;  ^-eneralities  "  of 
liis  junior,  was  entirely  distanced  l)y  the  "dialectical  suh- 
tleties  "  of  the  Chief-Justice,  an  Unitarian  of  the  Unitari- 
ans, who  was  unwillint^  to  allow  others  on  the  Jieiich 
heside  him  to  express  their  opinions,  especially  Judjre 
Metcalf  lie  was  an  Ji]piscopalian,  and  had  delivered  tlie 
0])inion  of  the  same  Suiireme  Court  in  the  J>oy]ston  case, 
in  which  it  was  dcn-reed,  that  the  theoloiiies  of  the  Trinita- 
rians and  Unitarians  are  so  irreconcilal)ly  dilVerent  tliat 
funds  given  to  support  the  one  are  totally  }K'rverti'd  and 
misapplied  when  used  to  su]>port  the  other.  I'his  Avas  a 
case  in  which  an  Unitarian  fund  was  em})loyed  to  supi)ort 
TrinitiuMan  preacihinti;,  and  it  reverted  to  the  d(*si,<jjn  of  th(! 
donor  l)y  that  decision,  as  in  all  equity  it  should.  Not  so 
now.  The  Unitarian's  hull  was  all  riuht  when  the  Trinita- 
rian's ox  was  tfored  and  the  value  returned  ;  hut  now,  "it 
is  your  ox  which  has  <rored  my  hull."  Your  decision  then 
is  now  inoperative,  as  1  an*  greater  than  you  are. 

This  must  not  rc^vert,  as  we  will  see,  hy  the  holdinirs 
(of  the  Chief-Justice,  in  this  case,  called),  "the  court." 
In  reading  and  talking  his  d<>cision,  which  he  accom- 
plished in  two  hours  and  ten  minutes,  he  let  esca|)(^  some 
curious  utterances,  Wlicn  on(^  of  these  was  repeated  to 
Mr,  Choate,  who  was  not  ])resent,  his  solenni  countenance 
and  penetrating  eye  hecame  peculiarly  his  own,  and  in 
tones,  such  as  he  alone  could  utter,  exclaimed,  "  It  is  a 
lie." 

While,  said  Mr.  Dana,  "  If  I  could  only  prevail  on  tlio 
Chief-Justice  to  helievc,  that  there  existed  any  spiritual 
])()wcr,  whidi  a  bishop  or  a  Presbytery  could  exercise,  I 
could  win  the  case,  but  I  might  as  well  try,  with  an  etiual 
hope  of  success,  to  run  my  head  through  that  brick-wall 
as  do  so.  He  can  see  nothing  beyontl  men  and  nunil>ers." 
This  was  so.  To  imagine,  that  a  man  denying  all  J)ivine 
or  supernatural  revelation,  exce])ting  (1  Tim.  ii.5)  "There 
is  one  God,  and  one  ]\Iediator  between  Cod  and  men.  the 
man  Christ  Jesus,"  could  see,  believe,  realize,  or  achnit 
that  those  acting  under  the  power,  by  the  authority  and 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


401 


Choate 

Lcs  with 
11.     Tho 
lilc  ]^\'o- 
tic's"()t' 
iral  sul)- 
Uiiitari- 
e   lU'iu'h 
y   ,lu(l^e 
cved  tiio 
Aow  c:\s(>, 

rcnt   tlnit 
'Vted  uiul 
his  was  a 
o  siipi^ort 
i<vn  of  the 
[     Not  so 
ic  Trinita- 
t  now, ''  it 
nsion  then 

>  holdinirs 
lie  couvt." 
[le  acconi- 
eapo  some 


'1' 


itod  t( 


nntevianec 


:n,  an( 


I  in 


>.'  I 


t  IS  a 


»in 


■ail  on  tho 
tuul 
I 
I 
U 


•  xin-cistv 
li  an  0(1  via 
|ln-ii'k-wa"_^ 
ninnliovs. ' 
11  Divine 


5) 


There 


men.  tnc 

or  admit 

hority  tm^ 


in  the  name  of  God  the  Son  were  a  reality,  would  be  an 
iin])ossihility.  His  exercise  of  Ids  own  species  of  logic 
Ibrhado  Idm  to  boHin-e  him,  who  "spake  as  never  man 
spake"  when  he  said,  "i\ll  power  in  heaven  and  uj)on 
earth  is  given  unto  me."  The  criticisms  given  to  tlio 
man,  wlien  the  Bench  retired  to  their  room,  were  not  pub- 
lic pro])erty,  but  they  eK))ressi'd  with  finding  tlie  opinions 
of  the  judges  i)resent  (Dewey,  Metcalf  and  Bigclow),  in 
view  of  such  a  decision. 

One  of  them,  an  Unitarian,  insinuated  the  wrong  of  the 
opinion,  not  only  because  the  projierty  was  Presbyterian, 
but  because,  in  1735,  as  Unitarians  tliev  coukl  not  even 
liave  had  liberty  to  hold  Unitarian  opinions,  or,  as  he  said, 
to  walk  the  streets  of  Boston,  as  it  was  blasphemy  down 
till  A.  D.  178(5,  in  Massachusetts,  to  deny  the  doctrine  of 
the  Trinity.  Metcalf,  in  view  of  what  was  supposed  to  be 
settled  by  the  decision  of  the  court,  delivered  by  himself, 
in  the  Boylston  case,  felt  outraged.  Ho  razeed  his  0])inioii 
as  ])ublislied  in  the  Daili/  A<lr('iii.'<('r,  and  it  rested  iinally 
in  its  present  shai)e,  as  report(Ml  in  the  od  of  Gray. 

Wiien  the  decision  was  [)ul)lished  it  stirred  up  "the  re- 
mainders of  conscience "  where  they  existed.  Hence, 
wrote  one  from  Newburyport,  who  could  investigate  and 
thoroughl}'-  discriminate  in  the  case,  "I  regret  to  sec,  that 
the  Unitarian  intluenco  has  again  been  too  strong  for  jus- 
tice in  the  case  of  your  church.  However,  the  Lord  rules, 
and  the  day  of  truth's  vindication  cannot  be  postponed 
forever.  This  '  Liberal  Christianity,'  so  called,  has  been, 
from  its  birth,  the  nmst  intolerant  species  of  Deism  ever 
known.  And,  with  regard  to  tho  pure  truth,  the  only 
gospel  of  salvation,  modern  Congregational  orthodoxy  is 
fast  hastening  to  the  same  unenviable  })osition.  More  and 
more  am  1  convinced  that  God  will  punish  the  ])roud 
boastings  of  New  ]']ngland.  I  trust  a  renmant  may  be 
saved,  but  by  })resent  ap})oarances  it  will  be  a  very  small 
renmant." 

As  thei'o  remained  " som(^  Puritan  conscience"  in  some 
of  tho  occupants,  they  did  not  fully  suppose  that  tluy 
owned  the  ])r(Mnises  b(>vond  men^  ()C('Ui)ancv,  even  with 
the  '■  held  "  of  their  own  Chief-.) nstice  ;  some  were  actually 
willing  to  return  it  to  the  Presbyterians. 

In  after  time  meeting  after  meeting  (when  they  were 
26 


402 


HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


K 

■ 

%•:' 

II^HI''. 

> 

• 

wk 

-  '    1 

^Hl 

l\ 

^H; 

p5    , 

^H: 

^^^H 

f ; 

■, 

able  to  brin'g  together  a  majority  of  their  pewholders)  -wag 
lield,  to  find  out  what  to  do.  At  length,  as  was  done  in 
1805,  by  the  Trinitarian  occupants,  in  the  perversion  of 
the  trust,  the  majority  invoked  the  Legislature,  and  being 
reputed  in  the  street,  as  a  society,  to  be  wortli  twenty-two 
millions  of  dollars,  whetlier  this  had  any  inlluence  or  not, 
the  desired  enactment  or  resolve  in  due  time,  on  May  15th, 
A.  D.  1855,  was  passed. 

Presbyterianism,  being  thus  "left  out  in  the  cold,"  hav- 
ing no  rights  which  a  Congregationalist  Unitarian  Chief- 
Justice  was  bound  to  respect,  Non-Congregationalists  be- 
gan to  think.  The  property  of  the  Romish  church  being 
held  in  defiance  of  civil  authority  by  their  bishops,  felt 
safe,  the  Episcopal  Methodists,  as  "  their  people  have  (ac- 
cording to  Judge  Nelson)  no  part  in  their  governmental 
organization  and  never  had,"  their  preachers  holding  all 
their  church  estate,  were  not  alarmed,  but  some  Protestant 
Episcopalians  began  to  realize  their  situation. 

"The  Church  of  the  Advent"  had  subscribed,  in  order 
to  erect  the  most  attractive  church  edifice  yet  in  the  city, 
one  hundred  and  forty-two  thousand  dollars,  and  they 
now  paused.  They  saw  the  pine-board  pew  patronage 
might  alienate  their  church  estate  under  Mr.  Shaw's  ruling, 
and  before  they  would  proceed  to  build  they  appointed 
three  men  eminent  in  the  law,  two  of  them  officially  fami- 
liar with  our  case,  to  see  if  they  could  form  a  deed  which 
(as  they  put  it)  "  the  Chief-Justice  could  not  break  as  he 
broke  Blaikie's  Deed."  After  three  months  they  reported 
that  "This  could  not  be  done."  They  then  bought  a 
Methodist  meeting-house  for  twenty-nine  thousand  dollars, 
considering  a  property  of  this  amount  "  enough  to  be  put 
on  svheels." 

At  their  meeting  on  November  12th,  a.  d.  1855,  the 
pew  "proprietors  "  were  requested  to  enter  on  their  records 
the  "Protest"  of  the  pew  proxy,  representing  the  benefi- 
ciaries and  ceMids  que  trmt.  This  they  did,  and  while  forti- 
fied by  both  the  Bench  and  the  Legislature,  they,  out  of 
love  to  the  spot  which  Channing's  feet  had  made  their 
"  holy  ground,"  and  fears  of  the  I'orce  of  the  "  Protest"  and 
what  supported  it,  spent  four  thousand  seven  hundred 
dollars  in  repairing  and  refitting  the  building.  On  Octo- 
ber 1st,  1858,  they  voted  62  to  11  to  sell  our  land. 


n 


IN   NEW  ENGLAND. 


403 


irs)  vras 
(lone  in 
rsion  of 
1(1  beiiif; 
L'nty-lwo 
le  or  not, 
lay  loth, 

.Id,"  hav- 
m  Chief- 
alists  bc- 
rcli  bcinf^ 
shops,  Mt 
have  (ac- 
crnmcntal 
olding  all 
Protestant 

J,  in  order 
in  the  city, 
,  and  they 

patronage 
uv's  ruling, 

appointed 
.ially  I'ami- 
leed  which 
jreak  as  he 
ley  reported 
bought  a 
land  dollars, 

h  to  be  put 

1855,  the 
.leir  records 

the  benefi- 

while  forti- 
[hey,  out  of 

made  their 
>rotest"  and 

ni  hundred 
On  Octo- 
Ind. 


After  the  death  of  Mr.  Choatc,  in  July,  1859,  and  the 
removal  of  Mr.  John  C.  Adains  to  New  York,  the  Hon. 
Caleb  Gushing  seeing  in  the  above  decision  and  legislative 
enactment,  "  a  viohition  of  the  tenth  section  of  the  fh'st 
article  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,"  carried  it 
to  the  Supreme  Court  in  Washington,  saying,  "  Oh,  how  I 
would  like  to  have  plead  this  case  before  Chief-Justice 
Taney."  "  I  do  not  know  (said  he)  what  there  may  be  in 
Europe,  but  I  do  know,  that  on  this  continent  there  does 
not  exist  such  an  indirect  and  disingenuous  decision  as 
that  of  Chief-Justice  Shaw  in  tliis  case."  As  our  former 
counsel  in  framing  tlieir  bill,  h.ad  inadvertently  called  the 
occupants  proprietors,  while  Mr.  Cushing  admitted  this 
pro  tanto,  or,  so  far  as  the  legislative  enactment  to  make 
them  such  had  any  force  in  equity,  and  as  they  had  not 
quarrelled,  the  Act  of  June  5th,  1805,  totally,  he  was  not 
allowed  to  be  heard  there,  from  the  technical  quibble  of 
the  want  of  jurisdiction. 

While  "the  destruction  of  the  poor  is  their  poverty,"  yet 
Mr.  Cushing,  being  a  Presbyterian,  again  on  behalf  of  the 
claimants,  invoked  the  judiciary  in  equity.  John  H.  Clif- 
ford, Esq.,  was  succeeded  by  Stephen  H.  Phillips,  Esq.,  as 
attorney-general,  and  the  occupants  were  by  the  course  of 
events  embolde.i 'd  to  forsake  their  "holy  ground,"  and 
profane  it  for  and  with  "  merchandise,"  even  while  seven 
men  of  their  company,  under  their  corporate  oath,  swore 
that  "  the  said  premises  form  a  species  of  property,  which 
is  not  the  subject  of  any  excliangeable  or  marketable 
value."  The  restriction  imposed  on  it  by  John  Little 
made  it  truly  so.  On  the  day  of  sale  their  junior  counsel 
for  them  oflered  to  the  claimants  twenty-five  hundred  dol- 
lars, or  about  one-fifty -sixth  part  of  its  value,  for  a  total 
obliteration  of  all  their  demands  and  of  the  demands  of 
future  generations,  who  might  be  beneficiaries.  While  this 
would  have  enabled  them  to  give  a  warranty  deed,  the  offer 
also  evinced  some  "  remainders  of  conscience."  The  cestui 
que  trust,  to  whom  the  ofl'er  was  made,  were  but  a  part  of 
the  whole,  either  in  the  past  or  the  future,  and  they 
refused  to  take  even  Unitarian  money  for  "  the  inheritance 
of  their  fathers,"  which  was  not  "  exchangeable  nor  mar- 
ketable." Naboth  (1  Kings  xxi.)  would  not  sell  his  -'ine- 
yard  even  for  a  better  one,  because  it  was  entailed,  luu  the 


» , 


404 


HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


offer  of  five  thousand  "shekels  of  the  sanctuary"  of 
Samaria  was  now  spurned  by  the  lawful  beneficiaries  of 
John  Little's  trust.  Possession  can  be  obtained  only  by 
stoning  Naboth,  according  to  the  counsel  of  Jezebel. 

They  did  not  venture  to  sell  John  Little's  donation  on 
the  lot  itself.  The  auctioneer's  othce  was  ])rivate  property, 
but  ceased  to  be  so  when  he  announced  liis  business  and 
described  in  glowing  colors  the  varied  advantages  of  the 
estate.  Then  a  scene,  which  would  have  afibrded  a  happy 
group  for  Punch,  was  presented.  After  reading  all  the  titles 
and  descriptions,  for  "  Naboth 's  vineyard  "  here  was  now  di- 
vided into  three  lots,  the  colonel  flourished  his  hammer. 
As  he  began  to  do  tliis,  a  protest  from  tiie  beneficiaries, 
which  was  handed  to  him,  he  was  requested  to  read.  At 
this  he  raged,  declaring  "  tliis  was  no  ])lace  to  settle  titles." 
While  no  sale,  no  pay,  he  became  excited  for  a  first  bid. 
There  were  no  volunteers.  The  property  was  desirable, 
but  capitalists  remembered  the  nature  of  the  title.  After 
a  time,  incredibly  long,  the  leading  one  of  the  seven  men 
came  from  behind  the  auctioneer's  desk  and  stated:  "We 
represent  one  hundred  and  twenty  families  as  respectable 
as  any  others  in  Boston,  and  we  can  give  a  warranty  deed." 
The  "solid  men"  then  began  to  breathe,  and  the  estate 
was  bought  by  Baker,  Sheafe  &  Weld,  while  the  protest 
damaged  the  sale  above  twenty  thousand  dollars. 

Not  only  w\as  a  replication  filed  against  the  proprietors, 
so  called,  but  a  bill  of  review  also.  And  afterwards-  a  "sup- 
plemental bill  to  the  bill  of  review  "  was  filed  against  the 
purchasers.  I  have  said  "  filed,"  but  there  are  difi'erent 
ways  of  doing  some  things  in  Boston,  and  the  filing  of  this 
bill  was  one  of  an  extraordinary  character,  in  keeping  Avith 
the  concealment  of  our  records  from  1774  till  1803. 

Mr.  Gushing  was  now  usually  in  Washington,  and  the 
plaintifis  waited  long  to  have  their  case  called.  "The 
original  bill,  answer,  petition  for  review,  and  supplemental 
bill  to  the  bill  of  review,"  had  been  all  printed,  and  for 
years  supposed  to  be  in  their  proper  place  under  a  sworn 
official.     The  conclusion  of  it  ran  thus  : 

"And  your  orator  shall  ever  pray. 

"  C.  Gushing,  "  Stephen  H.  Phillips, 

"  Spofford  &  TuTTLE.  "Attorney-General. 

"Attest :  George  C.  Wilde', 

''Filed  March  3d,  1860.  "  Clerk." 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


405 


When  counsel  v;ent  to  inquire  for  said  bill,  petition  and 
review,  these,  like  our  records,  could  not  be  found.  "  These 
bills  have  not  been  found.  They  seem  never  to  have  been 
filed."  The  attestation  of  the  sworn  otficer  to  the  fact  and 
to  the  date  were  placed  on  the  document,  before  it  was 
printed,  but  then  it  was  only  a  matter  in  which  the  reli<>;- 
ious  interests  of  Presl)yterians  in  all  time  was  contrasted 
with  the  pockets,  convenience  and  pleasures  of  "  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  families,  as  respectable  as  any  others  in 
Boston." 

Such  was  the  "  Suffolk  S.  S."  of  the  Supreme  Judicial 
Court  of  the  Commonwealth,  and,  amidst  all  the  irrev- 
erence connected  with  doin^  so,  Presbyterians  should  as- 
suredly pray,  "  God  save  the  Commonwealth  of  Massa- 
chusetts." Contrasted  with  what  it  was  an  hundred  years 
before,  it  is  a  little  shaky,  so  far  as  equity  is  concerned. 
This  long  liti^^ation  would  not  have  been  continued,  but  for 
"  equity  and  a  good  conscience."  It  never  was  a  matter 
of  private  interest.  Hence,  as  we  are  wronged,  we  are 
resigned,  for  we  know  that  there  is  a  "Judge  of  all  the 
earth,"  "  a  God  of  knowledge,  and  by  him  actions  are 
weighed."  If  the  case  could  have  been  presented  before 
the  National  Supreme  Court,  the  result  would  doubtless 
have  been  diflerent.  But  a  court  established  and  main- 
tained by  the  church  polity  of  "  the  Bay  State  "  theocracy 
and  Athenian  democracy,  has  a  logic  of  its  own.  Hence, 
said  the  Rev.  Dr.  Lothrop,  of  Brattle  Street  (Unitarian) 
Church,  "  We  all  know  what  that  property  was  intended 
for,  but  by  the  laws  of  Massachusetts  you  (Presbyterians) 
can  never  have  it."    True. 

With  this  exertion,  in  endeavoring  to  reclaim  our  church 
estate,  we  did  not  desist.  We  supposed  it  possible  (though 
not  probable)  that  "  the  Great  and  General  Court "  which 
had,  out  of  a  Presbyterian  trust,  created  probably  the  last 
Congregational  poll  parish  established  in  the  State,  might, 
even  in  this  material  age,  "lay  judgment  to  the  line, 
righteousness  to  the  plummet,"  and  counteract  the  wrong 
which,  in  1805,  they  had  done  to  the  boneficiari(\s.  Here  Ave 
found  "mankind  an  unco  squad."  Our  first  petition  was 
referred  to  a  committee  on  parishes,  and  "  one  hour  was 
allowed  "  to  make  men  understand  who  we  were,  what  we 
were,  whence  we  came,  what  our  rights,  our  wrongs  and 


406 


HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


i 


our  complaints  were.  In  that  time  "\ve  must  so  make  them 
to  "mark,  learn  and  inwardly  digest,"  probably  the  greatest 
case  ever  considered  in  their  Supreme  Court.  After  an 
hour  broken  by  interruptions,  they  noted  what  pleased 
them,  and  when  we  were  handed  over  to  the  Legislature, 
they,  most  graciously,  gave  us  "leave  to  withdraw." 

While  it  was  simply  hoping  against  hope,  it  was  thouglit 
the  better  way,  in  renewing  our  petitions  the  next  year,  to 
employ  the  press. 

Hence  a  plea  was  prepared  and  handed  to  each  member 
in  both  houses,  so  that  if  the  name  were  not  beloved  by 
them,  they  might  not  remain  ignorant  of  our  claims,  in 
their  origin  and  character.  This  will  be  ibund  as  Apjien- 
dix  E.  to  this  work,  and  we  conmiend  it  to  the  intelligent 
and  candid  reader.  It  eventually  went  through  the  same 
"hour,"  the  same  formal  presentation,  and  obtained  the 
same  most  gracious  "  leave  to  withdraw."  I  do  not,  how- 
ever, say  that  the  majority  of  them  "sinned  wilfully  after 
coming  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,"  for  it  is  doubtful 
if  the  one-half  of  their  number  read  it.  It  had  no  political 
significance.  As  a  part  of  the  "  History  of  Presbyterianism 
in  New  England,"  it  will  afilbrd  food  for  thought  to  every 
lover  of  our  American  civil  institutions  and  liberties  ;  and 
the  matter  will  (D.  V.)  be  farther  noticed  in  our  next 
chapter. 

We  have  seen  that  this  pioneer  church  prospered  until 
secession  came.  The  field  was  wide,  and  almost  weekly 
"  Presbyterian  strangers  "  were  arriving.  Beside  stated 
public  worship,  conducted  usually  three  times  on  Sabbath, 
and  a  week-day  evening  meeting,  the  pastor  at  times  em- 
ployed the  press,  not  only  in  contributions  to  periodicals, 
but  in  pamphlets  and  in  book  forms.  As  every  man  is 
born  an  Arminian,  this  fact  induced  him  to  republish,  in 
1847,  a  sermon  by  the  Rev.  James  B.  Rcntoul,  of  Garvah, 
on  "  Wesleyan  Methodism  and  Calvinism  contrasted  in  the 
light  of  Divine  truth,  especially  on  the  subject  of  Election 
and  the  Divine  Decrees." 

Finding  that  few  knew  anything  about  the  government 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  he  in  the  same  year  repub- 
lished a  catechism  on  that  subject,  which  had  been  pub- 
lished in  Ireland  in  1835 — to  which  he  added  olyections 
to  the  system  of  congregational  ecclesiastical  polity.    This 


IN    NEW   ENGLAND. 


407 


them 
-eutest 
tcr  an 
leased 
lature, 

nought 
:ear,  to 

nemhcr 
ved  hy 
linis,  in 
Appen- 
■elligent 
:ie  same 
ncd  the 
ot,  how- 
.11  y  after 
doubtful 
political 
erianism 
to  every 
ies;  and 
aur  next 

red  until 
weekly 
!   stated 
Sabbath, 
imes  em- 
riodicals, 
man  is 
iblish,  in 
Garvah, 
cd  in  the 
Election 

;crnment 
lir  repub- 
Icen  pub- 
Ibiections 
|ty.    This 


provoked  the  "  Old  School "  to  good  works,  and  in  1849 
the  board  re))ublished  the  original  catechism  of  his  (from 
the  third  Glasgow  edition,  enhirged) ;  he,  in  1850,  pub- 
lished the  fourth  American  edition.  In  lcS49  he  prepared 
aivtl  published  a  manual,  in  the  form  of  a  catechism,  on 
the  nature,  duty,  matter  and  manner  of  Praise,  with  an 
appendix  from  Komaine,  which  reached  the  fourth  edition 
in  1854. 

Where  men  are  "  set  for  the  defence  and  confirmation 
of  the  gospel,"  tliey  have  to  grapple  with  immediate  diffi- 
culties and  menacing  oppositions,  according  to  their  specific 
character.  Thus,  "Paul  as  his  manner  was,"  on  Mars' 
Hill,  reasoned  in  one  way,  and  in  a  different  way  before 
the  Jewish  council.  Hence,  to  classify  the  varied  sects  of 
religionists  by  which  he  was  surrounded,  the  writer  pub- 
lished "  The  Philosophy  of  Sectarianism,"  in  1854.  Of  this 
volume,  out  of  eighty-six  reviews  seen,  above  fifty  were 
commendatory,  and  some  of  them  flattering,  while  it 
awoke  sectarian  rancor  in  some  bosoms.  Nearly  three 
months  after  its  publication,  the  junior  partner  of  the  firm, 
Phillips,  Sampson  &  Lee,  met  3lr.  McGee,  the  agent  of 
"The  Methodist  Book  Concern  "  in  Boston,  and,  in  con- 
versation, said  :  "  How  is  it,  Mr.  McGee,  that  we  havejre- 
ceived  no  orders  from  you  for  months?  "  "  I  do  not  intend 
to  give  you  any  more,  because  you  have  published  tliat 
book,  'The  Philosophy  of  Sectarianism.'"  "That  is  not 
against  you,  is  it?  "  "Yes.  It  is  the  worst  book  that  was 
ever  written  against  Methodism,  and  wc  have  from  you 
withdrawn  our  trade." 

As  Mr.  Phillips  stated,  he  came  to  their  office  and  said: 
"  Mr.  Phillips,  we  must  throw  out  that  book,"  naming  it. 
"  Why?  "  "  Because  Mr.  McGee  says  it  is  the  worst  book 
which  was  ever  written  against  Methodism.  He  has  quit 
dealing  with  us  on  account  of  it,  and  his  trade  is  to  us 
worth  one  thousand  dollars  a  year."  "  If  you  are  done, 
Mr.  Lee,  allow  me  to  speak.  1  am  a  Unitarian.  I  have 
taken  that  book  home  and  read  it.  You  may  depend  U]ion 
it,  that  if  it  is  hard  on  Methodists,  it  is  harder  on  Unitari- 
ans. I  am  not  ashamed  to  ask  any  man  a  dollar  for  that 
book,  and  you  can  tell  Mr.  McGee  that  I  will  lose  his  trade 
before  I  will  quit  selling  it.  It  is  a  book  for  thinking 
men." 


|3 


P 


i  [ 


408 


HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


Of  it  a  second  edition  w,as  publishod  in  1855.  After  the 
union,  wiiich  formed  "the  United  Presbyterian  Church  of 
North  America,"  the  writer,  for  the  use  of  Presbyterians, 
published  in  1860  a  small  work  called  "  The  Schools,"  and 
in  1865  another  on  "The  Organ  and  Other  Instruments 
as  Noted  in  the  Holy  Scriptures." 

From  1846  until  1854  the  Presbytery  of  the  bounds  was 
the  Associate  Reformed  one  of  New  York.  To  attend  its 
meetings  was  inconvenient  and  expensive.  Hence,  in 
answer  to  a  petition  to  Synod,  one  was  constituted  on  July 
11th,  1854,  and  called  the  Associate  Reformed  Presbytery 
of  Boston.  The  members  composing  it  were  the  Revs. 
Alexander  Blaikie,  James  Otterson,  David  A.  Wallace  and 
William  McMillan. 

On  September  12th  said  Presbytery  ordained  Mr.  James 
McLaughlin,  and  on  November  2d  installed  the  Rev.  Wil- 
liam McLaren  as  pastor  in  Fall  River.  From  year  to  year 
in  their  quarterly  meetings  the  usual  business  allotted  to 
such  courts  was  by  its  members  transacted,  which  aided 
in  sustaining  Presbyterianism  in  New  Elngland,  In  1858 
it  went  into  the  union  of  the  Associate  iind  Associai  Re- 
formed Churches.  Previous  to  May  5th,  1868,  twenty-one 
ministers  had  for  a  shorter  or  a  longer  time  belonged  to  it. 
During  this  period  (1843-1868)  we  have  to  notice  are- 
turned  loan — we  will  not  say  the  recovery  of  stolen 
property.  One  hundred  and  forty-five  years  ago  in  our 
history  we  read  this  inscription,  "Here  lies  ye  body  of  ye 
Rev.  Mr.  Peter  Daille,  who  died  the  21st  of  May,  1716," 
etc.  This  is  a  few  rods  within  the  gate  of  the  Granary 
burying  ground,  opposite  to  Horticultural  Hall,  Boston. 

He  had  left  an  unblemished  reputation,  and  to  mark  the 
resting-place  of  his  dust,  a  headstone  of  blue  flag  had  been 
erected. 

Of  some  minds  it  attracted  the  attention,  a.  d.  1715 
probably  was  long  past,  and  at  a  period  Avhen  Presbyte- 
rianism was  probably  extinct — at  a  time  unknown  to  any 
man  now,  when  town  officials  or  private  proprietors  were 
extending  the  sewerage  lu'low  the  Common,  covering  stone 
was  a  cash  article  in  Boston,  and  to  sonic  one  the  thought 
occurred  that  instead  of  marking  where  a  man  of  the 
Presbyterian  persuasion  was  buried,  it  would  save  a  trifle 
and  make  some  good  covering  to  bury  the  stone.    This 


IN    NEW   ENGLAND. 


409 


iftcr  the 
lurch  of 
>rtorians, 
)ls,"  and 
ruments 

mds  was 
ttend  its 
cnce,  in 
.  on  July 
•esbytery 
he  Revs. 
lUice  and 

Ir.  James 
Rev.  Wil- 
ar  to  year 
Hotted  to 
lich  aided 
In  1858 
3ciai     Re- 
^venty-onc 
ngcd  to  it. 
itice  a  ro- 
of   stolen 
igo  in  our 
)ody  of  ye 
Lay,  1715;' 
|e  Granary 
Boston, 
mark  the 
had  been 

lA.  D.  1715 

Presbyte- 

Ivn  to  any 

letors  were 

}ring  stone 

10  thou^dit 

Ian  of  the 

ive  a  tritle 

)ne.    This 


showed  economy  and  utility,  besides  it  would  prevent  any 
one  in  future  by  this  object  discovering  the  grave  of  a 
Hufiiuenot.  Hence  it  liad  for  generations  been  useful  to 
the  town  or  city. 

But  in  A.  I).  LSnO,  in  June,  as  men  were  improving  or 
enlarging  the  sewer,  one  struck  his  pick  into  the  stone, 
and  wliiie  unal)lc  to  "  make  ai^y  thing  of "  tiie  letters  on 
the  fragments,  his  Honor  Mayor  Shurtlefl",  although  pro- 
fessionally lie  could  not  aid  the  case  by  "pouring  in  oil 
and  wine,"  yet  he  "bound  up"  the  fragments  with  rivets, 
and  made  the  epita}ih  legible.  Being  not  only  a  rare  em- 
bodiment of  elevated  humanit}',  a  gentleman,  but  possibly 
of  the  same  "stock,"  this  labor  of  love  and  the  ex))enses 
connected  with  it  were  Ijy  him  most  cheerfully  borne. 
With  its  broken  top,  the  stone  can  be  readily  seen  through 
the  gate.  Let  Presbyterians  "  keep  their  eye  upon  it,"  so 
that  the  ghouls  may  not  again  hide  it  from  the  light  of 
day. 

Fall  River. — Among  the  many  advantageous  sites  for 
manufacturing  purposes  in  New  England,  this  place  has  a 
high  position,  ^\'ithin  one-half  of  a  mile  the  river  falls 
150  feet,  almost  e-very  yard  of  which  descent  is  appreciated 
and  appropriated,  and  to  it,  of  course,  operatives  from 
similar  departments  of  industry  in  North  Britain  and  Ire- 
land at  an  early  dav  emigrated. 

To  those  of  the  Presbyterian  persuasion,  in  1833  the  As- 
sociate Presbytery  of  Albany  assigned  a  licentiate,  Mr. 
Chauncy  Webster.  How  long  he  preached  to  them  's  not 
exactly  known,  but  the  Rev.  H.  H.  lilair,  of  New  York, 
who  was  ordained  in  September,  1836  (some  fourteen 
months  before  Mr.  Webster),  taking  a  iriendly  interest  in 
them,  as  a  station,  after  that  date  visited  them  from  time 
to  time. 

So  much  progress  was  made  that  two  persons  were 
chosen  to  the  eldership.  These  the  Rev.  David  Gordon, 
supplying  there  by  the  order  of  the  Presbytery  of  Albany, 
ordained  and  organized  the  church.  By  others,  sent  by 
the  Associate  Presbytery  of  New  York,  they  had  supplies 
until  1840,  when  owing  to  the  removal  of  the  senior  elder, 
and  the  cd'ects  of  the  commercial  depression  of  1837  and 
onward,  as  employes,  they  became  unable  to  sustain  and 
retain  their  organization. 


« 


410 


HISTORY   OF   PRESnYTEIlIAMSM 


11: 

i; 


I 


It  is  not  known  tliat  durinp;  tho  next  fivo  years  .'iny- 
thins  was  dono  towards  rcsuscitatinj:;  tlio  cause  here.  JUit 
in  January,  184G,  tlie  Rev.  .Ino.  ]i.  Dales,  on  visitinji  a 
family  formerly  from  his  charge  in  Philad(;lphia,  wrote 
thus:  "Throuo;h  them  I  soon  became  acquainted  with  our 
prospects  there.  On  Sabbath  I  met  tho  people  in  a 
pleasant  upper  room.  They  had  known  the  prhici])les 
and  practices  of  truth,  and  now  fjir  from  anythinfj;  like 
either,  they  hungered  and  thirsted  for  the  provisions  of 
grace.  Never  have  I  ])reached  to  more  solemnly  attentive 
audiences  than  in  that  place.  During  the  week  I  visited 
between  twenty  and  thirty  families,  all  of  whom  are  ripe 
for  an  organization  under  our  name,  and  some  of  those 
men  are  men  of  Gody 

In  June  the  Rev.  Andrew  Johnston,  by  the  appointment 
of  the  Associate  Reformed  Presbytery  of  New  York,  or- 
ganized them  as  a  church.  What  rarely  happens  in  such 
a  case,  the  men  to  "  magnify  the  oflfice  "  of  the  ruling  elder- 
ship were  easily  found.  The  great  difficulty  was  that 
Presbytery  had  not  the  preachers  to  occupy  the  station. 
On  visiting  them  in  August,  the  Rev.  Wm.  McLaren,  of 
New  York,  wrote :  "  The  prospect  is  encouraging.  The 
audience  on  Sabbath  was  about  one  hundred  and  fifty. 
They  are  resolved  to  go  forward,  and  are  about  purchasing 
lots  for  a  church  edifice."  This  thoy  did,  and  while  by 
years  of  toil  some  of  them  owned  their  own  dwellings, 
■when  they  opened  their  house  of  worship  on  April  23d, 
1848,  "  every  shingle  owned  by  the  congregation  was 
mortgaged  "  to  secure  the  builders.  On  June  15th,  1848, 
the  "  Rev.  Thos.  G.  Carver,  of  the  Congregational  Union 
of  England  and  Wales,"  was  admitted  as  a  member  of 
the  Presbytery  of  New  York.  On  being  assigned  by 
Synod  to  their  care,  he  was  appointed  to  officiate  in  Fall 
River  for  eleven  months. 

On  November  30th  they  extended  to  him  a  call  to  be- 
come their  pastor.  This  he  accepted  January  24th,  1849. 
Their  n.ext  movement  was  to  exchange  their  house  of 
worship  for  a  large  and  commodious  one  built  in  1843  for 
an  Unitarian  Baptist  society.  This  they  entered  on  Sep- 
tember 22d,  1850.  By  this  their  debt  was  increased,  but 
BO  were  their  hopes  and  energies.  "  Measures  for  the  in- 
stallation of  Mr.  Carver  were  deferred  until  the  next  stated 


'!!•> 


IN   NEW    ENGLAND. 


411 


ars  any- 
re.     Hut 
isitin^  a 
a,  wrote 
with  our 
pl(;   in  a 
)rincii)U'S 
[lin^  like 
isions  of 

attentive 

I  visited 
11  are  ripe 
)  of  those 

pointment 
York,  or- 
is in  such 
aing  chlor- 
was  tliat 
he  station. 
cLaren,  of 
ging.    The 
and  fifty, 
ipurchasins 
[\  Avhile  by 
dwellings^, 
April  23d, 
ration  was 
15th,  1848, 
,nal  Union 
member  of 
isigned  by 
.te  in  Fall 

,  call  to  be- 
24th,  1849. 
\  house  of 
lin  1843  for 
\ed  on  Sep- 
[reased,  but 
¥or  the  in- 
tiext  stated 


meeting  of  Prosbytory  in  May."  "Coming  events"  were  in 
his  case  "casting  their  shadows  before."  With  the  floating 
popuhition  he  was  popuhir,  but  when  he  preached 
"another  gospel,  which  was  not  another,"  lie  had  in  his 
audience  men  "mighty  in  the  Scriptures,"  who  readily  saw 
that  while  he  did  not  "take  heed  to  the  doctrine,"  ho 
could  not  "save  those  who  heard  him." 

"The  fruits  of  righteousness,  Avhich  are  by  Jesus 
Christ,"  withered  rapidly,  and  in  March,  184*.),  he  "left  tho 
connection  informally,  and  united  with  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church."  At  Synod,  in  August,  1850,  their 
Presbytery  reported,  "Like  the  l)ush  on  Jloreb  Mount, 
this  faithful  church  has  survived  what  in  all  human  ex- 
pectation would  have  destroyed  it,  and  at  this  day  is  in 
the  most  encouratring  position." 

On  June  3d,  1851,  the  Rev.  David  A.  Wallace  was  or- 
dained and  installed  pastor.  Bringing  with  him  energy  to 
his  work,  his  diligence  and  foithfulness  were  crowned  with 
success.  Yet  he  perhaps  rather  thought  the  field  to  be  a 
"pent-up  Utica,"  and  on  January  17th,  1854,  he  was  by 
Presbytery  removed  to  East  Boston.  This  people,  "  cov- 
eting earnestly  the  best  gifts,"  next  called  the  Rev.  Wm. 
McLaren,  formerly  pastor  of  Franklin  street  church,  New 
York.  Over  them  he  was  installed  on  November  2d.  He 
was  a  ripe  scholar,  uncommonly  well  acquainted  with  the 
Hebrew  Serii)tures,  a  clear  writer,  a  terse  and  energetic 
speaker,  and  his  sermons,  even  when  repeated,  were  by 
his  people  realized  to  be  good.  He  enjoyed  more  than  did 
his  ])redecessor  the  quietude  of  his  study,  and  probably 
taught  less  "  from  house  to  house."  After  a  pastorate  of 
nearly  twtdve  years,  he,  on  September  18th,  18G6,  tendered 
his  resignation  for  reasons — 1st,  impaired  health  ;  2d,  the 
leadings  of  Divine  Providence;  3d,  the  congregation  are 
prospering  and  free  from  debt.  The  Presbytery,  on  Oc- 
tober 18th,  with  great  regret,  granted  his  request.  On  the 
28th  his  pulpit  was  declared  vacant,  and  on  April  16th, 
18()7,  he  was  dismissed  from  Presbytery. 

His  successor  was  the  Rev.  Joshua  R.  Kyle,  who  was  in- 
stalled on  June  27th,  1807.  By  this  date  the  United 
Presbyterian  church  was  agitated  by  the  progressive  spirit 
of  the  age  (to  be  subsequently  (D.  V.)  presented).  This  it 
is  supposed  formed  the  second  reason  of  the  retiring  pastor 


412 


HISTORY  OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


tr 


above  pivcn,  and  with  it  the  present  incumbent  was  not  a 
little  imbiiod. 

While  by  no  means  equal  to  either  of  his  two  predeecs- 
Bors  in  pulpit  power,  and  in  difheulty  with  one  of  his 
elders,  there  were  those  who  thought  well  of  hiru,  and  on 
April  0th,  18G9,  he  received  a  call  from  tlio  United  Prcs- 
l)yterian  congre^jation  of  Princeton,  Indiana.  As  liis 
■usefulness  in  Fall  River  was  not  extensively  impaired, 
the  Presbytery  refused  to  dissolve  his  pastt)ral  relation. 
In  it  he  continued  until  1875,  when,  owin<,'  to  the  impaired 
health  of  his  wife,  an  estimable  woman,  he  resigned,  and 
was  dismissed  in  good  standing. 

In  Providence,  a  city  of  great  commercial  wealth,  as  well 
as  of  very  active  and  successful  manufacturing  industries, 
the  enterprise  of  collecting  a  psalm-singing  church  was 
commenced  in  May,  1848,  and  by  the  appointment  of 
Presbytery  on  June  25th  a  committee  received  into  fellow- 
ship twenty-one  persons.  To  these,  sixteen  others  were 
added,  and  on  August  15th  Mr.  Daniel  Mcintosh  was  ex- 
amined and  found  well  qualified  for  the  otlice  of  rulinp 
elder.  On  the  16th  he  was  ordained,  and  Mr.  Thomas 
Patton,  formerly  in  the  office  in  the  church  in  Fall  River, 
was  with  him  then  installed.  By  these  olliciid  acts  tiie  or- 
ganization of  the  cliurch  was  com))lete(l.  For  tiiree 
months  they  were  supplied  with  preacliing  by  a  licentiate, 
Mr.  D.  C.  McVean. 

The  Rev.  Joseph  Robinson,  received  by  Presbytery  from 
the  same  denomination,  and  at  the  same  time  with  the 
Rev.  Thomas  George  Carver,  was  appointed  to  supply 
them  until  the  next  meeting  of  that  court. 

Both  his  ignorance  of  Presbyterianism  and  his  habits 
operated  against  his  usefulness.  VVithout  habits  of  indus- 
try and  a  willingness  to  "  endure  hardness  as  a  good  sol- 
dier of  Jesus  Christ"  in  such  a  field,  success  in  "winning 
souls  "  could  not  be  very  extensive.  There  did  not  at  that 
time  exist  any  superabundance  of  laborers,  and  as  he  did 
not  to  satisfaction  fill  the  position,  after  being  informed  by 
their  Presbytery  that  they  could  not,  for  at  least  three 
months,  afibrd  to  them  constant  preaching,  "  they  called  a 
congregational  meeting  and  voted  unanimously  to  petition 
the  Associate  Presbytery  of  New  York  for  supply.  Tlu'V 
were  answered  favorably,  and  after  some  time  were  identi- 


IN    NEW   ENGLAND. 


418 


j» 


ficd  with  tliat  porsiiasion.  When  to  n  "  Tvov.  Dr.  Jolin 
ykinner,  of  Scothind,  they  ^nw  n  ciU,  wliich  lie  did  not 
arcei)t,"  they  in  ;i  short  tinu;  were  more  Huceensful  with 
Mr.  Joseph  Sanndorson.  He  Ix'c.iiinc  their  pastor.  TIih 
dew  of  his  youtii  and  tiie  heaiity  of  manliood  were  iipoii 
liini.  While  Ins  nnnistry  wa.s  for  a  time  sueeessful, 
eahunity  overtook  him.  J  lis  hmdhidy  had  a  dau;j;hter 
who  had  separated,  or  had  hi-eii  se[)arated  i'rom  h^r  iius- 
hiind.  Sh(!  (as  Mr.  Saunderson  supjjosed  in  jest)  asked 
liini  to  marry  lier,  and  in  j)leasantry  he  gave  an  aflirnia- 
tive  answer.  When,  some  weeks  after,  she  inquired,  ''  Mr. 
Saunderson,  are  you  ready  to  fulfil  your  promise? 
"  When  you  present  the  gentleman  and  proper  papers,  I 
am."  "  You  said  nothing  ahout  ])apers  ;  you  promised  me 
marriage  yourself."  "  I  never  thought  of  sueh  a  thing," 
said  he.  The  mother  overhearing,  doehired  that  she 
"  heard  him  say  so,  and  further  stated  that  in  the  event  of 
refusal,  lie  would  he  prosecuted."  Here  wius  manifested  a 
development  of  modern^  not  of  the  early  New  England 
family  training,  religious  enlightenment  and  social  life 
which  he  hegan  now  experimentally  to  understand. 
"  Foolish  talking  and  jesting  are  not  convenient."  So 
Delilah  won. 

As  not  onl}'-  did  her  husband  live  within  a  day's  jour- 
ney, hut  according  to  the  statement  of  the  Rev.  H.  H. 
Blair  "  before  Presbytery,  no  evidence  was  produced  that 
even  the  civil  law  had  been  invoked,"  so,  notwithstanding 
his  popularity  with  his  own  nationality  and  the  people 
generally,  separation  came. 

They  next  gave  a  call  to  a  Mr.  McGauchy,  and  I  now 
quote  the  written  statement  of  a  principal  actor  on  both 
sides,  at  times  with  each  party,  the  oldest  elder  in  that 
church : 

"  He  went  on  to  New  York,  ostensibly  to  accept  their 
call,  but  he  did  not  do  so,  and  would  not.  He  was  th.n 
;ipi)ointed  to  some  other  place,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Alexan- 
(Hi  lUillions  was  sent  to  Providence,  and  arrived  there  in 
due  time,  but  Mr.  McGauch}^  was  before  him,  and  next  day 
took  forcible  possession  of  the  })ulpit.  A  lawsuit  was  in- 
stituted "  and  his  adherents  were  cut  otF  by  Presbytery. 
"They,  with  Mr.  McGauchy,  joined  the  Old  School  under 
the  agreement  that  they  were  to  sing  the  Scotch  version  of 


I 


414 


HISTOKY  OF  rUKSBYTEUlANISM  ■ 


i  ' 


the  Psjilma  and  nono  otlnT.  All  iliis  M-ns  cordially  a,?rood 
to  and  put  upon  rrcsbytcry's  record  ill  Deep  IJivor,  I'on- 
iieetit'iit,  l)Ut  it  was  not  kept,  lor  they  soon  Idimd  pretences 
to  use  Watts.  They  then  trietl  hy  fraud  to  keep  possession 
of  the  ])roperty,  hut  they  were  loiled,  and  at  last  gave  it  up 
to  the  i\ssociate  Church." 

During  tlie  period  thrit  this  strife  was  pending  the  Asso- 
ciate peoi)h!  W()rship|)ed  in  a  hired  hail,  '"i'lu;  gn^ater 
j)art  of  the  oiiiers  for  a  time  went  nowhere." 

During  tiiesi^  years  of  confusion  sonic  thought  their  hest 
interests  would  he  hetter  suhscrved  if  they  wer(>  again  iu 
connection  \Yith  the  Assoeiat(!  [{ctornied  Church,  and  on 
A])ril  11th,  hSo'),  they  made  application  to  the  iJostoii 
Treshytcry.  in  granting  the  rt'ijuest  conditionally,  the 
court  appointed  a  comndlh^e  to  shew  to  the  Associalo 
Preshylcry  why  they  were  induced  to  reoccupy  in  I'rovi- 
dence.  The  way  was  not  yet  clear,  and  the  application 
was  not  renewed  until  May  I'ith,  1<S.')7,  when  the  appli- 
cants pr(\-;ented  themselves  as  "the  First  Scotch  l*r(shyte- 
rian  Church  "  of  that  city.  Again  a  coniniittee  oi"  iiKpiiry 
was  appointed,  and  on  ,Iune  Dth,  ISoT,  hy  I'rtshytcry,  tlu'ir 
"})etition  was  not  granted." 

Jiy  or  hefore  ISot),  the  church  in  the  hall  ohtaiued  tho 
Bervices  of  tlu^  Kev.  Andrew  Thomas. 

lie,  although  a  Scotchman,  was  formerly  an  Independent 
preacher  at  Kuncorn  (Quarries,  in  luigland.  lie  was  led 
oil"  from  his  early  I'reshyterian  training  hy  fellow-students, 
and  remodelled  under  the  IJev.  Kalph  Wardlaw,  1).  D.,  hut 
engaging  as  a  preacher,  he  soon  found  that  the  church  was 
Jndependont,  while  his  hearers  and  himself  were  suhjeclcd 
too  c.\tiM»sively  to  tho  control  of  the  owner  and  I'lnployer. 
After  trying  city  nussionary  work  for  a  time,  he  came  to 
INIontrcal  and  supplied  duiing  the  winter  of  IHl'.l-oO  in  a 
kii'k  at  Jjachine.  Knamoured  with  i\\v  system  of  his 
choii'O,  he  supposed  lu;  could  lind  and  enjoy  it  to  perfec- 
tion on  its  native  soil,  and  lu^  camo  to  Boston.  Jk'  was  a 
Calvinist.  and  after  a  lew  hearings,  had  to  seek  fellowship 
elsewhere.  Among  other  places,  he  served  in  Providence 
I'or  ahout  two  years,  and  was  minister  of  the  Associato 
Church  then'  when  their  property  was  to  them  restored  by 
the  other  litigants. 

After  tlie  union  on  May  2Gth,  1858,  order  was  cxten- 


IN   NEW    ENOLAND. 


415 


ihtaiiu'd  tlu) 


sivrly  rostorod,  and  IVoni  tlic  Uiiitod  Prosl\vt(TV,  on  Octo- 
!)('!'  IStli,  IS.")'.),  tlH>  moderation  in  a  oall  was  requested  and 
made  in  lavor  of  a  lici-nLiate,  Mr.  K.  Ci.  Wallace.  Tliia  ho 
did  not  ai'ci'])!. 

On  .Innc  1  Itli,  ISoO,  it,  was  stated  by  a  leader  in  tho 
ohnreli  (Mr.  K.  Iveekie)  that  th(5  three  rnlin^j;  elders  who 
had  tollowed  tlu^  fortunes  of  the  liev.  Mr.  McCraucdiy  to 
Deep  liiver  and  since,  were  "now  retiirnini^,  althouu;h  tho 
hymn  mania  is  still  rauiin^  hii^di  in  Broadway  (in  the  then 
Old  School  church),  and  hy  all  appearances  tho  lines  will  ho 
more  distinctly  drawn  and  people  ho  tho  more  ahlo  to 
judji;e  Unowiuiily  in  tlu^  case.  American  IVcshyterianisni 
has  always  hcl'orc  this  hi'cn  helori'  the  puhlicU  in  i'rovi- 
dence  dressed  in  colours  that  did  not  helonjj;  to  it,  hut  we 
hoj>(>  now  it  is  gointj;  to  throw  od'  tho  mask  and  treat  ua  to 
a  view  of  its  inconsistencies." 

On  Dcccmher  1st  the  Kev.  \\'m.  .>h'Tiaren  wrote,  "^Fr. 
Ma^'ce,  the  Old  School  minister,  has  lt>l"t  Providence,  ami  it 
is  thought  that  all  will  join  our  church  and  occupy  tho 
huililinu- on  Uinulway.  Tlu!  Old  School  here  can't  coni- 
])ete  with  us  out  this  way." 

Anioui!;  other  supply  durinu;  this  s(>ason  of  turmoil  was 
the  vencrahle  lh>v.  Andrew  Heron,  D.D.  ircM'amc  to  dis- 
])ense  the  eucharist  and  managed  to  unite  the  two,  the  ono 
which  came  out  with  'riu)mas,  and  the  jtart  of  the  church 
M'hich  opposed  his  prenchiui^  in  the  Associates  church. 
"After  the  iimovation  of  Watts'  |)salms  the  Old  School 
kept  to  the  church,  hut  when  the  'riiomasites  and  thoso 
they  had  put  out  of  the  cihurch  camo  together,  tho  Okl 
School  i)arty  <;ave  up," 

On  l)cceud)er  r)th,  IS')!),  atiother  mo(h'ration  waf'  urantod. 
This  was  presented  to  Mr.  ,lohn  0.  Kohh,  a  licentiate,  on 
April  'Jlst,  and  In;  was  ordained  and  installed  on  Ajjril 
27 th,  181)1).  After  a  successful  i)astorate  of  ahovc  thirteen 
years,  he  was,  on  Septeml>er  *)th,  l.S7.'>,  released  and  tlis- 
luisscil  hv  Preshvtcrv  on  .lanuarv  22d,  1^^7-1. 

l.oivcU  was  incori>oratcd  as  a  city  in  ISod,  and  \\\  LSfiO 
it  contained  a  population  of  .'l-'v'i.sr)  souls,  suhsistins^  jtrin- 
cipally  on  the  nianufacturin«f  industries,  .\hout  one-third 
ol  its  poj)ulatir»n  wi-re  lorci^ncrs,  and,  amoULi;  these,  it  was 
deemcil  advisable  to  seek  expatriated  Preshyterians. 

Oil  going  thither  in  tho  evening  on  March  '20th,  the 


416 


HISTORY   OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


It'ii     ' 


writer  fonnd  the  extensive  factories  all  illuminntcd.  The 
sight  was  pleasant  and  the  question,  "Wliy?"  was  an- 
swered by,  "  It  is  the  blowing  out  ball."  For  the  next  six 
months  the  factories  would  not  be  operated  by  artificial 
light.  Hence  the  dance  to-night.  Evening  visits  were 
made  for  some  time,  so  that  before  any  were  invited  to 
public  worship  in  the  Presbyterian  form,  it  might  be 
known  wliether  the  experiment  would  probably  succeed. 
Then  a  hall  must  be  found,  and  next  a  constant  sup[)ly  of 
preaching.  All  this  it  took  weeks  to  accomplish.  In  one 
of  these  evening  visits  he  found  Mr.  George  Cathcart,  who 
agreed  when  he  returned  to  guide  him  to  some  of  his  ac- 
quaintances. His  house  stood  detached,  near  the  wall  of 
a  factor}'-,  and  with  unoccupied  land  in  the  rear.  He 
found  him,  to  his  God,  offeiing  his  evening  song  in  a 
psalm,  and  he  was  in  no  hurry.  The  little  "Arabs" 
gathered,  and  he  went  off  the  street  into  the  vacant  lot  to 
pass  time.  When  he  returned,  jNIr.  Gathcart  was  reading 
his  Bible  and  he  had  to  retreat.  Before  he  had  proceeded 
far  in  his  prayer  a  burly  watchman  tliought  this  man  re- 
quired a  share  of  his  "  tender  mercies,"  and  a  colloquy 
began : 

"Captain,  I  want  to  know  what  you  are  doing  here?" 
"Friend,  I  will  do  j^ou  no  harm."  "I  guess  I  have  some 
right  in  these  'diggings,'  what  business  have  you  here?" 
The  urchins  were  now  around  .us,  a])parently  by  dozens, 
with  a  rapid  increase.  "  Neighbor,  if  you  must  know,  I 
am  waiting  until  a  man  is  done  his  prayers." 

This  was  ])eyond  his  comjirehension.  To  him  it  was 
solemn  mockery.  If  the  intruder  had  spit  in  his  face,  or 
knocked  him  down,  the  insult  would  probably  have  been 
less.  The  idea  that  a  man  was  praying  so  near  his  premi- 
ses, if  one  were  praying  aloud  in  his  family  in  Lowell  at 
that  hour,  was  to  him  an  incre(lil)ility,  and  he  magnified 
his  office.  To  avoid  his  grasp,  the  stranger  ran  and  he 
impelled  his  propellers. 

A  few  steps  outside  led  up  to  the  door  of  which  I  seized 
the  handle,  and  he  caught  me.  Before  he  had  time  to 
wrest  me  from  my  gras}),  Gathcart,  the  son,  answered  my 
call  and  opened  the  door,  leaving  this  man  to  "nurse  his 
wrath  and  keep  it  warm,"  while  quantities  of  sand  and 
gravel  were  by  the  urchins  thrown  against  the  windows. 


IN   NEW   ENGLAND. 


417 


Encouraged  in  the  enterprise,  public  worship  was  bepjun 
in  this  station  on  Sabhath,  the  IGth  of  June,  1850.  Con- 
stant supply  of  proacliin;^'  it  was  then  difficult  to  obtain, 
and  after  a  want  for  three  Sabbatlis  continuously  the  case 
appeared  to  be  almost  hopeless. 

So  soon  as  the  supply  hocanie  constant  matters  revived, 
and  on  October  7th  a])i>lic;itit)n  was  made  for  an  organiza- 
tion, which  was  effected  on  December  1st  by  the  admission 
of  seventy  persons  to  niem])er.shii)  and  tlie  installation  of 
two  ruling  elders.  The  oliservance  of  the  Lord's  Supper 
by  them  in  the  simi)le  scriptural  form  of  their  fathers,  was 
in  Lowell  a  new  thing. 

To  then),  on  re([nest.  Preshyter}',  on  February  25th, 
1851,  granted  a  mcxlcratioii.  Their  call  was  accepted  by 
the  Rev.  Peter  Clonlou.  This  congregation  elected  to 
office,  as  trustees,  men  fond  of  argumentation.  Their 
meetings,  ostensibly  to  promote  the  financial  interest  of 
the  church,  grew  extensively  weekly  into  "unruly  and 
vain  "  talking,  not  productive  of  "  brotherly  love." 

The  wife  of  the  ])astor  rcjceived  from  her  first  husband 
a  rural  home  of  much  l)eauty  in  Cambridge,  y.  Y.,  which, 
by  his  bequest,  she  must  occupy,  or  of  it  forfeit  the  en- 
joyment. 

This  drew  the  minister  away  from  Lowell  more  than 
was  profitable  to  the  people.  He  would  occi'ijionally  have 
some  one  of  the  city  sui)[)ly  for  him  when  absent,  and  be 
told  that  the  congregation  could  hear'  these  (and  such 
men)  without  the  cost  of  supporting  ordinances  at  their 
present  expense.  He  was  "  an  excellent  preacher,"  and  a 
most  estimable  man,  yet,  under  conflicting  constraints, 
Hence,  while  holding  their  call,  he  did  not  ask  for  in- 
stallation, and  at  Fall  River,  on  May  19th,  1852,  ho  re- 
([uested  to  and  did  return  it  to  the  Presbytery.  He  lelt, 
and  after  laboring  as  a  missionary  (at  least  a  part  of  the 
time)  in  Australia,  he  returned  to  Cambvi'ige  in  1855. 
Supply  was  now  given  to  Lowell,  and  on  ^lovember  2d, 
185o,  Mr.  William  Mc.*'iilan  vas  ordained  ^nd  installed 
there.  His  hearing  Wi;;>  defective,  or  lie  would  (it  was 
said)  have  sought  admissioi^  to  the  Bar.  His  ideas  of 
official  responsibility  were  defective.  He  took  his  vaca- 
tion at  the  Isle  of  Shoals  so  long  in  autumn,  that  in  keep- 
ing an  appointment  to  assist  him  at  the  communion,  the 
27 


ti   it 


418 


HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


Eev.  D.  A.  Wallace  found  him  (as  he  had  been  for  weeks) 
absent  from  the  city  on  Saturday  evening,  instead  of  liav- 
ing  attended  to  the  previous  necessary  preparations.  Tliis, 
of  course,  marred  the  good  feeling  of  the  congregation. 
He  resigned  on  November  15th,  and  left  on  December  9tli, 
1854.  Having  had  no  full  oi)portunity  of  obtaining  a  con- 
densed spiritual  vitalit}',  this  ])eople  became  "  faint"  while 
"yet  pursuing."  Among  other  supply,  Mr.  Anthony  C. 
Junkin  served  them  for  a  time  after  June  2d,  1855,  and 
continued  with  them  ai'ter  February  1st,  1856.  On  iMay 
6th  he  was,  at  Thompsonville,  received  by  Presbytery,  and 
ordained  on  the  7th.  As  a  stated  sup})ly  he  couhl  not 
control  the  tendency  of  events,  and  on  June  9th,  1857,  he 
asked  to  be  released.  Commercial  depression  now  reigned 
in  the  land.  Labor,  even  where  obtained,  ceased  to  be  re- 
munerative, and,  on  October  27th,  as  a  congregation,  they 
informed  Presbytery  that  they  liad  "  ceased  to  meet  as  a 
church  owing  to  '  the  times.'  "  In  view  of  their  condition, 
they  were,  on  January  13th,  1858,  by  Presbytery  dis- 
organized. 

Years  passed,  during  wliich  but  little  eflbrt  was  made  to 
revive  them,  and  while  individuals  and  families  of  Presby- 
terians, as  employment  could  be  obtained,  caine  to  the 
city,  yet  no  permanent  settlement  was  eflected  during  the 
period  ending  with  1868. 

Taunton,  Mass.,  next  received  attention. 

Several  families  and  numerous  individuals  of  Presbyte- 
rians were  there  employed,  and  on  February  25tli,  1853, 
the  Rev.  William  McMillan  visited  them.  Supplies  were 
sent  to  them  with  encouraging  prospects,  during  summer 
and  through  the  year  1854.  Much  of  the  hoj)es  of  Pres- 
bytery in  this  station,  however,  centred  in  one  prominent 
man  in  a  remunerative  ])Osition  who  soon  afterwards  re- 
moved to  Bridgewater,  ^lass.  Encouragement  suthciont 
to  warrant  an  organization  was  not  given,  and  on  Septem- 
ber 12th,  1855,  the  Presbytery  discontinued  Taunton  as  a 
station. 

For  some  years  previous  to  the  commercial  depression 
of  1857,  the  manutacturing  villages  of  New  England  en- 
joyed prosperity,  and  into  almost  every  town  Presliyte- 
rians  were  scattered.  Among  other  j)laces,  Holi/oke,  Mass., 
"was  visited,  aud  from  it,  on  May  7th,  1856,  two  commis- 


IN   NEW  ENGLAND. 


419 


sioners  met  Presbytery  at  Thompsonville,  asking  for  a 
supply  of  preaching.     This  was  granted. 

Among  others  who  officiated  there,  was  the  Rev.  D.  B. 
Jones,  a  native  ot"  the  neighboring  town  of  Ludlow,  Mass., 
who  had  some  years  before,  in  Ohio,  united  witii  tlie  Asso- 
ciate Reformed  persuasion,  and  wiio,  on  January  31st, 
185G,  was  received  ])y  the  Boston  Presbytery.  With  it  he 
continued  but  a  year,  and  was  dismissed  on  February 
10th,  1857.  Owing,  it  is  believed,  to  the  prejudices  of  sect 
which  these  comn)issi()ners  (Messrs.  Campbell  and  Robert- 
son) and  their  respective  local  adherents  brought  with 
them  from  Scotland,  the  attempt  became  a  failure,  and, 
as  a  station,  Holyoko  was  discontinued  by  Presbytery  on 
September  10th,  1856. 

We  now  turn  to  Edst  Bo>^ton. 

East  Boston  was,  in  1630,  occupied  as  a  homestead  by 
Samuel  Maverick,  at  the  same  time  that  John  Blackstone 
cultivated  the  Peninsula  of  Shawmut.  It  was  for  above 
a  century  known  as  Noddle's  Island,  this  man  being  at 
one  time  the  owner  of  much  of  it.  He  brought  disgrace 
upon  himself  and  the  Bay  colony,  by  being  the  first  man 
in  New  England  (according  to  story)  who  owned  slaves. 
It  was  not  demanded  for  commerce  until  about  1830,  and, 
in  1847,  the  principal  ship-yards  of  the  city,  a  large  sugar- 
refinery  and  an  oil-mill,  together  with  forges,  a  factory  for 
the  preparation  of  dye-stuffs,  and  the  wharves  of  the 
Cunard  steamers,  all  gave  work  to  an  industrious  popula- 
tion, beside  those  who  daily  obtained  employment  in  the 
city  proper  and  returned  there  to  rest.  It  became  espe- 
cially famous  for  ship-building.  Among  others,  a  Nova 
Scotian,  the  late  Donald  McKay,  alone  on  it,  built  in  com- 
paratively a  few  years  146  vessels,  nearly  all  of  large  size. 
In  doing  so  he  disbursed  above  one  million  of  dollars,  and 
the  "  Island  Ward  "  prospered. 

From  it  a  considerable  percentage  of  the  Associate  Re- 
formed church  came  to  the  city  to  worship,  and  the  wits 
would  sometimes  notice,  that  as  many  as  fifty-nine  Pres- 
l)yterians  would  follow,  or  accompany,  the  father  of  the 
ship-builder  when  he,  on  Sabbaths,  would  leave  the  ferry- 
hoat  as  he  returned  home.  Consequently,  to  these  per- 
sons occasional  supply  of  preaching  was  given  on  Sabbath 
evenings,  until  in  April,  1853,  when  a  station  was  formed. 


H' 


420 


HISTORY  OF   PRESnYTERIANISM 


ii :  ■  1 


W>i^> 


The  first  supply  obtained,  for  tliroe  months,  was  the 
Rev.  George  C.  Arnold.  A  loving  and  beloved  man,  faith- 
ful above  many — "whom  the  gods  love  die  early."  He 
was  "sanctified  wholly"  in  the  mid-time  of  his  days,  and 
after  a  pastorate  of  eight  years  in  Phihidelphia  "  fell  on 
sleep." 

He  was  succeeded  for  months  by  the  Rev.  A.  G.  Wallace, 
D.  D.,  who  now,  while  still  a  pastor,  is  the  energetic  actu- 
ary of  the  Board  of  Church  Extension  of  tlie  United  Pres- 
byterian Assembly. 

In  due  time  a  church  was  organized,  and  on  November 
15th,  1854,  the  Rev.  David  A.  Wallace  was  installed  pas- 
tor. He  was  then  in  tlie  vigor  of  life,  and  few  congrega- 
tions have  enjoyed  more  intelligent  activity  in  a  pastor, 
than  he  expended  among  this  ])eople,  as  he  gave  his  atten- 
tion to  every  part  of  ofhcial  duty. 

He  was  now  in  a  new  field,  the  scat  of  modern  "  cul- 
ture" among  Unitarians,  and  surrounded  by  the  varied 
"schemes"  of  the  orthodox.  In  "contending  for  tlic 
faith,"  he  entered  the  field  of  authorship,  and  published, 
in  1855,  his  "  Theology  of  New  England." 

While  he  draws  it  mildly,  his  collated  fiicts  and  testi- 
monies present  on  the  leading  points  of  doctrine  a  most 
perfect  contrast  to  the  "  form  of  sound  words,"  which 
made  the  early  New  England — the  New  England  to  which 
Christians  look  back  with  emotions  of  joy. 

In  his  work  he  shews  the  changes  rung  especially  on 
the  "  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures,  election,  Adam's  rela- 
tion to  his  posterity,  sin  and  depravity,  human  inability, 
Christ's  satisfaction,  regeneration,  conversion,  effectual 
calling  and  justification."  To  him  also  it  was  not  dis- 
couraging that  the  venerable  Rev.  Dr.  Daniel  Dana,  "  the 
Addison  of  the  New  England  pulpit,"  should  thus  express 
in  relation  to  the  book  his  opinion  by  way  of  introduc- 
tion. "  Can  it  be  for  a  moment  denied  that  within  a  few 
years  words  have  so  entirely  changed  their  meaning,  that 
the  Christian  pulj)it  emits  darkness  rather  than  light? 
Can  it  be  denied  that  the  terms  depravity,  conversion,  re- 
generation, atonement,  justification,  etc.,  have  lost  their  origi- 
nal sense,  and  assumed  a  meaning  altogether  new  ?  Can  it 
be  denied  that  in  the  principal  theological  seminary  of  New 
England  the  religion  taught  is  depravity  without  sin,  re- 


IN    NEW    ENGLAND. 


421 


,vfis  the 
n,  iaith- 
^."  He 
lys,  and 
"fell  on 

Wallace, 
Lie  actu- 
,ed  Pres- 

ovenibcr 
lied  pas- 
jongrcf^a- 
a  pastor, 
bis  attcn- 

srn  "  cul- 
tie  varied 
y  for  the 
)ublished, 

and  testi- 
ne  a  most 
s,"  which 
1  to  which 


generation  without  lioliness,  and  justiffcation  without  the 
righteousness  of  Christ?  Can  it  bo  denied  that  pious 
liearers  often  retire  from  the  sanctuary,  and  from  tlie  in- 
structions of  a  ])reacher,  wliose  leading  views  are  entirely 
o[)posite  to  their  own,  yet  honestly  believing  that  they 
have  heard  the  verv  gosijel  which  thev  loved?  Can  it  be 
denied  that  different  classes  of  hearers  widely  distant  in  sen- 
timent have  each  come  away  in  the  contidence  that  the 
jjrencher  was  of  their  own  opinion? 

"^^'hcre  are  the  Cliristians  who  have  occupied  the  stage 
for  twenty  or  thirty  years,  and  have  not  witnessed  a  real 
revolution  in  religion — iij  its  doctrinal  views,  its  experience 
and  its  practice? 

"The  decline  and  abandonment  of  the  truth,  so  prev- 
alent and  undeniable,  have  unquestionably  sunk  our 
churches  into  a  sadly  depressed  condition.  Yet  how  can 
it  be  expected  that  evils  will  be  removed  until  they  are 
distinctly  seen — seen  in  their  causes  and  connection,  as 
well  as  in  their  magnitude  and  aggravations? 

"The  Avorthy  and  respected  author  of  this  pamphlet  has 
executed  a  task  of  no  common  importance.  Mr,  Wallace 
has  laid  our  New  England  churches  under  great  obliga- 
tion "  (pp.  21-24.) 

In  1855  the  congregation  undertook  to  build  a  house  for 
public  worship,  the  lecture  hall  of  which  was  opened  for 
service  on  April  10th,  1856,  the  expenditures  so  far  upon 
it  being  $4,200. 

During  summer  the  pastor  entered  into  negotiations 
with  the  trustees  of  the  college,  then  opening  at  Mon- 
mouth, in  Illinois,  to,  of  it,  become  the  president,  and  on 
the  9th  of  September,  1856,  he  was,  on  his  own  request, 
dismissed  by  the  Presbytery.  On  November  3d,  1856,  a 
moderation  was  granted  to  the  congregation,  and  on  Jan- 
uary 29th,  1857,  the  Rev.  11.  H.  Johnston,  who  had  been 
received  by  Presbyter}'  on  the  14th,  was  installed  pastor. 
Being  a  native,  while  most  of  his  congregation  were  born  in 
the  Ih'itish  dominions,  he  published  a  good  sermon  on 
"The  Stranger's  Inheritance."  He  found  the  church  ed- 
ifice unfinished,  and  the  congregation  in  debt.  lie  with- 
out success  solicited  aid  by  circulars  from  his  own  denom- 
ination. This  became  to  him  a  jilea  for  change,  and  in 
order  to  place  the  property  where  it  could  be  perverted  by 


» 


422 


HISTORY  OP  PRESBYTERIANISM 


M        » 


11'     \* 


B(  ,  his  people  formed  a  "society,"  and  ostensibly  im- 

k  to  build  pews  in  the  clum;!),  wliile  tlie  Hoor  was 

lully  laid.     This  answered  eHuetivcly,  and  by  allowing 

small  amount  of  interest  to  remain  uni)aid,  they,  by 
loreclosure,  sold  the  property,  and  had  it  bought  for 
themselves  by  a  third  party. 

This  man  professed  to  belong  to  the  Associate  Reformed 
church,  which  on  May  26th,  185(S,  united  with  the  Asso- 
ciate Synod,  and  formed  the  United  Presbyterian  church 
of  North  America. 

On  April  28th,  1858,  he  had  resigned  his  pastorate.  As 
his  proclivities  were  towards  another  denomination,  he  be- 
gan to  see  that  if  he  were  separated  from  the  congregation, 
he  alone  could  not  carry  the  church  estate  witli  him,  and 
on  June  8th  he  withdrew  his  resignation,  ostensibly  pro- 
fessing to  enter  the  union.  The  Presbytery,  however,  at 
their  meeting,  on  the  lltli  day  of  August,  took  him  at  his 
word,  and  dissolved  the  relation.  He  and  his  party  then 
had  a  meeting  called  on  the  24th  of  August  by  "  the  clerk 
of  the  society,"  not  by  the  elders,  to  wiiom  in  trust  the 
deed  was  executed  on  May  1st,  1856.  At  this  meeting  he 
and  his  wife  appeared,  and  exclusive  of  them,  thirteen 
men  and  nine  women  voted  the  property  over  to  the 
*'  Old  School,"  while  afterwards  two  of  the  twenty-two  de- 
clared that  Avhile  they  were  present,  they  did  not  vote. 

At  a  meeting  of  Presbytery  on  September  8th  his  anger 
became  "  fierce,"  and  he  and  his  friends  withdrew.  On 
September  12th  his  pulpit  was  declared  vacant.  On  Sep- 
tember 14th  the  two  senior  elders,  with  thirty-seven  others, 
prepared  a  ^jrotest  against  the  action  of  "the  society," 
■which  was  presented  to  Presbytery  on  the  4th  of  October. 

He  had  now  "destroyed  much  good,"  and  after  loitering 
beside  the  wreck  for  above  two  years,  he  left  both  it  and 
the  Old  School  denomination,  for  whom  he  had  done  so 
much,  for  Hastings,  Westchester  county,  N.  Y.,  on  June 
12th,  1861,  where  he  united  with  the  Reformed  Dutch 
church.  After  December  26th,  1858,  to  see  what  number 
might  yet  be  gathered  of  those  who  had  been  spoiled  of 
their  church  estate,  w'orship  was  held  at  intervals  in  East 
Boston  on  Sabbath  evenings.  This  continued  for  years. 
In  the  meantime,  in  1862,  those  who  occupied  tlie  house 
called  a  Congregationalist,  the  Rev.  T.  N.  Haskel,  and  he 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


423 


was  on  Dcrcmbor  3(1  installed.  IIo  brought  in  an  dcinent 
in  synipatliy  with  liis  own  views,  and  as  those  who  had 
previously  worshipped  there  were  nearly  all  liritish-born 
Presbyterians,  an  eflVrveseeiuie  bcL^an. 

Tlie  elder  wht)  had  for  years  ollieiated  as  the  superin- 
tendent of  the  Sabbath  school  was  set  aside  by  vote,  and  a 
native  put  in  charge.  This  and  other  matters  not  in  ac- 
cordance with  ])revir.us  usage  jn'oinpted  not  a  few  to 
leave.  These  were  called  bolters.  They  were  occasionally 
supplied  by  the  Kefornied  Presbyterian  minister,  and  as 
those  who  had  been  deprived  of  their  house  on  January 
od,  1S()4,  commenced  in  a  hired  hall,  by  a  sense  of  duty 
the  prejudices  of  the  former  were  overcome,  and  they 
united  with  them. 

On  April  19th  they  asked  for  sui)ply  and  a  reorganiza- 
tion, and  when  on  November  lith  they  were  visited  by  the 
Ilev.  G.  M.  Hall,  they  so  soon  rallied  around  him  that  on 
the  PJth  of  December  Presbytery  granted  to  them  a  mod- 
eration, and  he  was  installed  on  April  17th,  1SG5.  We 
have  alread}''  noticed  some  of  his  characteristics  and  the 
feebleness  of  his  health.  Among  the  fragments  of  Presby- 
terians in  East  Boston  he  was  considered  ratlier  a  rigid 
disciplinarian,  and  when,  on  December  2Gth,  1867,  he  re- 
signed, the  congregation  concurred. 

We  now  direct  our  attention  to  Lawrence,  Mass.  In 
1845  capitalists  here  built  a  dam  across  the  Merrimac,  and 
80  rapid  was  the  increase  of  poi)ulation,  that  in  1.853 
(having  the  necessary  12,000  inhabitants)  it  was  incor- 
porated as  a  city.  Plerc,  as  usual,  the  "Scuit,"  "the  wan- 
dering Scot,"  was  soon  found.  On  June  5th,  1854,  by 
one  of  these,  the  writer  was  by  letter  inlbrmed  that  while 
a  large  part  of  the  300  or  upwards  of  that  nationality,  then 
in  Lawrence,  would  on  "Sabbath  visit  and  travel  in  the 
country,"  and  say  "  that  they  would  rather  stay  at  home 
than  conform  to  the  American  forms  of  worship,"  still 
some  others  of  them  "  kept  up  a  weekly  prayer-meeting 
on  the  old  principle  of  singing  Psalms  and  standing 
during  prayer."  "  Something,"  said  he,  "  must  be  done  soon 
to  save  this  people  from  perdition."  Consecpiently  on  July 
2d,  1854,  Mr.  Alexander  McWilliams,  a  licentiate  of  the  As- 
sociate Reformed  persuasion,  connnenced  conducting  pub- 
lic worship  in  the  Presbyterian  order,  and  on  December 


424 


HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


19th  a  church  was  orcjanizccl.  On  August  7th,  1855,  Vr. 
S.  F.  Thoinjjson,  in  answer  to  their  call,  was  ordinnod  a  id 
installed  pastor.  Although  he  made  a  good  heginnniir, 
and  was  nieasuraljly  successful,  he  resigned  his  pastorate 
on  January  'JUth,  1857,  and  on  March  25th  he  left  the 
city. 

Amidst  the  severe  commercial  depression  of  that  year, 
they  called  on  June  lOth  the  Fvev.  W.  T.  McConnell.  He 
did  not  accept,  and  they  became  dependent  on  supplies 
until  October  I8th,  LS59,  when  the  ilex.  James  Dinsmore 
was  installed.  His  entrance  into  the  ministry  was  ex- 
tensively the  result  of  bis  father's  wishes  perhaps  more 
than  of  his  own  s(Mise  of  (lualilication  for  the  work.  Pres- 
bytery, at  his  own  re([uest,  the  congregation  concurring, 
released  him  on  September  loth,  1803.  From  this  date 
he  did  not  officiate  in  the  ministry,  and  being  a  man  of 
strict  integrity  and  unl)lcmished  Christian  character,  lie 
soon  afterwards  obtained  permanent  employment  in  the 
financial  department  of  the  house  of  A.  T.  Stewart  &  Co. 

The  congregation  gathered  from  diflerent  divisions  of 
the  Presbyterian  household  in  North  Britain  and  Ireland 
did  not  altogether  harmonize  in  their  views  of  the  value 
of  the  ordinances  of  the  gospel,  and  as  "thrift"  sometinies 
"  follows  fawning,"  some  of  them  l)ecame  assimilated  to 
their  ecclesiastical  surroundings.  Their  prospects  for  per- 
manent employment  were  not  diminished  by  this  course. 
Here  Presbytery  interposed,  dissolved  the  church,  passed 
the  Session  roll  over  to  their  own  clerk,  and  authorized 
him  to  give  a  certiticate  to  every  member  in  good  stand- 
ing, if  they  should  desire  it. 

All  but  five  or  six  were  so  dismissed,  and  the  meeting- 
house was  (for  years)  let  to  the  city  for  school  purposes. 

Hartford,  Ct.,  being  near  Thom])sonville,  was  supplied 
with  preaching  by  the  Boston  Presbytery  after  February 
23d,  1862.  That  court,  on  April  loth,  in  answer  to  an  ap- 
plication from  ninety-four  persons,  to  tliem  granted  an 
organization,  which  was  elTected  on  May  Gtli.  One  of 
those  who  officiated  among  them  was  tlie  liev.  ^\'m.  M. 
(Jlaybaugh.  In  answer  to  llieir  call,  he  was  on  tiie  day 
of  the  national  fast,  April  30th,  18G3,  installed  as  their 
pastor. 

His  father  had  been  pastor  at  Chillicothe,  and,  by  tho 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


425 


1855,  Mr. 
inod  a  id 
iMrinninsr, 
pastorate 
}  left  the 

,hat  year, 
ncU.     Ho 

supplies 
Dinstnoro 
y  Avas  ex- 
ia]-)S  more 
irk.  Trcs- 
oncurrin.^, 

this  date 
a  man  of 
iractcr,  ho 
cnt  in  the 
art  &  Co. 
.visions  of 
nd  Ireland 
f  the  value 
sometimes 
milated  to 

■ts  for  per- 

his  course. 

ch,  passed 
luuthorized 

od  stand- 

Ic  meeting- 
]urposes. 
supplied 
February 
h'  to  an  ap- 
Iranted  an 
One  of 
I.  \Vn\.  M. 
\\  tlie  day 
U  as  their 

Ld,  by  tho 


flppointmcnt  of  his  Synod,  Professor  of  Thcolo«ry  at  Oxford, 
Ohio,  lie  was  pre-eminently  a  "  messenger  of  (Jod,"  and 
ns  sueli  would  bo  ri>eo;j;ni7.ed  at  sifi;ht.  He  in  early  life 
(after  the  death  of  his  mother)  suffered  much  from  bodily 
infn-mity,  but  such  was  the  sweetness  of  his  disposition 
and  the  power  of  his  mind,  that  one  of  (Jod's  "  honorable 
women,"  a  widow,  Mrs.  Marjjjaret  MacLandburgh,  of  that 
town,  took  him  under  her  care,  and,  with  a  gentleman  of 
the  i)laee, ''  put  him  through  college."  He  '"  was  an  eloquent 
man  and  mighty  in  the  Scriptures." 

His  son  was  slow  to  learn  that  "there  is  no  roval  road 
to  geometry.  HcMice  in  liis  early  ministry  he  had 
changes,  llartford  did  not  suit  iiim  long,  and  on  January 
8th,  ISI).")^  he  resigned  his  charge. 

To  them  the  Rev.  .John  M.  Heron  was  appointed  supply, 
and  on  December  22(1  he  was  by  them  called.  His  instafl- 
ation  took  place  on  .January  17th,  18GG.  Hoping  to  ol.>tain 
pul)lic  worsiiip  permanently,  the  congregation  purchased 
a  lot,  while  they  had  from  year  to  year  on  Sabbaths  the  use 
of  ouQ  of  the  city  school-houses.  During  the  next  year 
their  pastor  was  for  several  months  confined  to  his  cham- 
ber by  a  severe  fever,  which  eventually  for  years  deprived 
him  of  the  necessary  power  and  command  of  his  voice. 
His  resignation  became  a  necessity,  and  the  pastoral  rela- 
tion terminated  on  December  31st,  1807.  On  May  5th, 
18(38,  they  called  the  Rev.  R.  M.  Patterson,  but  of  their 
call  he  did  not  accept. 

South  Bo.-^ton.  Of  the  congregation  organized  on  Decem- 
ber 20th,  184G,  several  mend)ers  were  residents  in  this  part 
of  the  city.  Beside  the  Sabbath  services  and  the  weekly 
meeting  for  prayer,  one  of  the  ruling  elders,  Mr.  John  Tay- 
lor, the  man  who  believed  in  iminited  guilt  and  imputed 
riuliteousness,  for  several  vears  conducted  evening  meetings 
weekly  in  South  Boston.  In  these  ho  usually  read  an  in- 
structive Scriptural  essay.  In  1804  the  attendance  had  so 
increased  that  on  May  27th  those  resident  there  requested 
to  be  recognized  as  a  station  and  to  obtain  preaching.  The 
station  was  opened  on  October  9th,  and  supply  ai)pointed. 
An  organization  was  requested  on  December  19th,  and  on 
January  8th,  1805,  so  soon  as  tliey  were  recognized  as  a 
church,  they  extended  a  call  to  the  Rev.  W'm.  M.  Clay- 
baugh.     This  he  accepted  on  the  same  day  on  which  he 


—     I 


aS  >  '  '■ 

.if"    > 

llj"? 

■   ? 

|||4'|-— ;- 

^,---1 

H^l 

i^4: 

ui 

426 


HISTOIIY  OF  PRKSBYTKUIANISM 


was  rolcfisod  from  Hartford.  Tho  congrojiation  was  small 
but  spirited.  They  a|)j)r('('iatod  their  ))rivih'U('S,  hut  tho 
eastern  eeclesiaslieal  atmosphere  soon  nuuh'  him  wiser  (in 
his  own  estimation)  than  his  fatlier  was.  The  jjrineiples 
involved  in  his  ordination  vows,  in  this  ajj;(^  of  modern 
conscience,  lie  began  to  think  were  too  rigid,  for  he  wanted 
"more  liberty,"  and  tendered  his  resignation  on  I)eeemi)er 
2d.  In  tliis  the  congregation  concurred  on  the  bSth,  which, 
being  on  tho  2l)th  of  December,  18(57,  made  known  to  Pres- 
bytery, they  ofllieially  granted  his  reciuest.  Supply  was 
then  to  them  appointed. 

Wilkinsonrillr.  Probably  no  stream  of  its  size  in  New 
England  furnishes  more  manufacturing  villages  in  the 
same  numlxn'  of  miles  than  does  the  Blackstone  river. 
Among  these,  Wilkinsonville  was  early  favored  witii  a  col- 
ony possessed  of  much  moral  worth  from  T^ondondcrry 
county,  Ireland.  In  common  with  many  other  expatriated 
Presbyterians  in  this  region,  they  found  religious  usages 
from  which  they  derived  but  little  spiritual  advantage. 
This  contiijued  for  years,  until  the  Rev.  Josei)h  Cooper, 
D.  D.,  of  Philadelphia,  visited  them. 

They  were  afterwards  supplied  by  members  of  the  As- 
sociate Presbytery  of  Albany.  In  1855  the  church  was  or- 
ganized, and  on  February  28th,  185G,  the  llev.  James  Wil- 
liamson was  installed  pastor,  and  was  in  this  position  on 
May  2Gth,  1858,  when  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  of 
North  America  was  constituted. 

Tile  congregation  and  its  pastor  subsequently  became 
identified  with  the  United  Presbyterian  Presbytery  of  Bos- 
ton. The  held  was  limited,  yet  when  manufacturing  was 
prosperous  they  built  a  neat  place  of  worship  and  mani- 
fested liberality  in  sustaining  ordinances.  In  the  course 
of  years  trouble  came.  Their  pastor  was  possessed  of 
good  abilities,  a  pleasant  and  a  faithful  man,  until  he  was 
overcome  with  artificial  appetite,  not  with  the  fearful 
maelstrom  of  strong  drink,  but  by  an  article  much  more 
genteel,  scholarly  and  martial  in  the  estimation  of  too 
many,  by  tobacco.  To  it  he  fell  a  slave,  and  as  it  brought 
on  delirium  tremens,  he  became  obscene,  until  facts  in  the 
matter  were  brought  before  Presb3'tcry. 

His  character  was  now  irretrievably  stained,  and  his 
usefulness  in  his  pastorate  worse  than  gone,  for  while  he 


kii'fi-l -:,,-.-. 


IN  NEW   ENGLAND. 


42': 


was  (lismissod  on  April  20th,  1804,  tlio  conrlition  of  tlio 
('onjrr('}.';iti()ii,  uiulcr  nartisan  t(Tlin;jf,  had  become  such  that 
the  I'rcshytery  (lisHoIved  tlie  chiircli. 

It  is  one  of  the  anomalies  of  modern  Christianity  (sa}' 
nothing;  here  of  the  drunkard's  drink)  that  a  pa^'an  vice 
should  he  allowed  to  destroy  soul,  body  and  eliaraeter, 
even  among  the  ministry  of  reconciliation,  of  purity,  and 
of  holiness.  When  James  ('artier  \vint«'red  near  where 
^Montreal  now  stands,  in  lo-'i'M),  he  found  amonpj  tho 
])afians  the  dis^ustinjj;  "  weed."  Such  was  its  control  as  an 
artificial  stimulant  over  the  stomach  of  the  "  poor  Indian," 
that  traders  of  that  race  hrou^dit  it,  when  they  brought 
notliing  else,  from  "the  sunny  South,"  and  such  is  its  con- 
trol over  thoughtless  youth,  criminally  indulged,  that  mul- 
titudes "have  their  wealth"  by  the  production,  jirepara- 
tion  and  sale  of  this  vile  narcotic,  whik;  the  slaves  of  this 
habit  arc  living  under  the  doom  of  diminished  usefulness, 
and  (as  a  rule,  with  comi)aratively  few  excejjtions) 
shortened  lives. 

It  is  only  less  destructive  in  its  nature  and  tendencies 
than  opium,  over  which,  as  a  spectacle  before  God,  angels 
and  men,  we  have  to-day  the  pagan  government  of  China 
saying  to  Britain,  the  bulwark  of  Cliristianity  on  the  earth, 
as  the  heathen  stands  in  an  im])loring  attitude  in  negotia- 
tion :  "  Flooding  our  country  with  oi>ium  from  your  Indian 
Empire  is  with  you  only  '  a  fiscal '  matter ;  with  us  it  is  a 
matter  of  conscience."  Yes,  the  feeble,  partial  ])agan  con- 
science at  war  with  Christitm  cupidity  and  avarice.  This 
a})|)ears  to  be  incredi))le. 

in  wavs  not  a  few,  this  unclean  habit  hinders  Sabbath 
sanctification  itself,  even  when  the  filthy  perfume  of  secu- 
lar time,  by  its  change  of  dress,  is  partially  removed.  Tho 
use  of  it  in  youth  gives  no  promise  of  vigorous  manhood, 
even  in  military  life.  Hence,  not  only  does  Germany  pro- 
hibit the  use  of  it  to  her  coming  soldiers,  who  include  her 
male  ])opulation,  but  to  the  honor  of  the  United  States, 
her  cadets  at  West  Point  are  ])rohibited  from,  by  its  use, 
becoming  imbeciles;  the  proniinency  and  exception  of 
ex-President  Grant  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

To  the  minister  of  God  it  imparts  no  increasingly  clear 
penetration  into  the  mysteries  of  redeeming  love,  no  angelic 
tones  to  his  utterances,  no  "  crucifying  of  the  flesh  with  the 


428 


HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


affections  and  lusts  "  in  his  own  soul,  and  at  times,  as  in 
this  deplorable  one,  it  f^ives  to  the  enemies  of  Christ  the 
oi)portunity  of  being  "partakers  of  other  men's  sins,"  and 
presents  detiance  to  the  command  of  him  who  says  to  each 
ambassador  of  Emmanuel,  "  Keep  thyself  pure." 

To  this  station  supplies  were  sent,  and  on  September 
19th,  1<S()5,  a  reorganization  was  granted.  Pursuant  to  a 
call  extended  to  him,  Mr.  Philip  Young  Smith  was  or- 
dained and  installed  pastor  on  October  2Sth,  1866. 

Thus  stood  the  United  Presbyterian  Presbytery  of  Bos- 
ton at  the  end  of  this  quarter  of  a  century,  in  1868. 

The  Reformed  Presbyterians. 

1843-1 86S — Liibors  of  their  ministers  in  Vermont  durinjj  the  first  half 
of  tliis  century — Their  division  about  the  elective  franchise — The  set- 
tlement of  Mr.  Beattie  in  Ryegate  and  Barnet — Of  them  families 
came  to  Boston  about  1848 — They  met  "  in  society  " — Rev.  A.  Steven- 
son and  others  preached  to  them — Organized  as  a  church — Takiiifj 
heed  to  the  doctrine — Patrick  Hamilton — Jas.  Reiiwick — "With  them 
the  truth  of  the  Bible  is  invincible — Do  not  allow  collateral  systems 
— Ever  ready  to  associate — In  a  tew  years  obtain  a  pastor — Rev.  J.  R. 
Lawson — Rev.  Wm.  Graham — His  cause  established  by  1808. 

We  have  seen  their  labors  at  an  early  day  in  Vermont, 
where  the  Rev.  Messrs.  McKinney,  Gibson,  Milligan,  Sloan, 
the  Wilsons,  Johnston  and  Shields  preached  during  the 
first  half  of  the  present  century  to  the  scattered  dwellers  in 
the  wilderness,  instructing  "  inquirers  into  the  principles 
of  Bible  faith.  Christian  testimony  and  social  order."  We 
liave  also  alluded  to  their  division  about  the  use  of  the 
elective  franchise  ^  and  noticed  that  the  Rev.  James  M.  Beat- 
tie  was,  about  1840,  called  to  be  the  pastor  of  Ryegate  and 
Barnet,  where  he  has  labored  during  this  quarter  of  a 
century. 

Among  others,  families  of  this  persuasion  came  to  Bos- 
ton about  1848-9  and  onwards.  Beside  worshipping  occa- 
sionally (and  some  of  them  statedly)  with  the  Associate 
Reformed  Church,  they  (it  is  believed)  generally  ol)served 
tlieir  Sabbath  meetings  "  in  society."  To  them  occasion- 
ally, after  May  5th,  1850,  the  Rev.  Andrew  Stevenson,  of 
New  York,  and  others,  ministered,  and  on  July  12th, 
1854,  a  church  of  twenty-one  members  was  organized  by  a 
commission  of  their  New  York  Presbytery.    As  ministers, 


IN   NEW   ENGLAND. 


•429 


es,  as  m 
iirist  the 
ns,"  and 
s  to  each 

^ptembcr 

lant  to  a 

L  was  or- 

). 

V  of  Bos- 

i8. 


he  first  half 
se — The  set- 
lem  faniilK'S 
V.  A.  Steveii- 
rch— Takins 
-^Vith  them 
teral  Hvstenis 
:— Rev.  J.  K. 
1808. 

Vermont, 
;an,  Sloan, 
Lluring  the 
dwellers  in 

principles 
Ider."  We 
luse  of  the 
ts  U.  Beat- 

egate  and 

[arter  of  a 

Le  to  Bos- 
|)ping  occa- 
Associate 
()V)served 
oceasion- 
lehson,  of 
iuly  12th, 
hiized  by  a 
[ministers, 


in  order  to  "save  themselves  and  their  hearers," must  witli 
vigilance  "take  heed  to  the  doctrine,"  so  among  this  peo- 
ple "sound  doctrine  "  lies  at  the  foundation  of  their  hopes 
of  heaven  and  of  tlieir  associated  existence  upon  earth. 
To  errorists  tliey  never  "  bid  Godspeed." 

In  order  to  know  the  truth,  they  have  to  learn  it  and  to 
teach  it  diligently  unto  their  chilch'en.  From  the  death  of 
Patrick  HamiUon  down  to  tlie  murder  of  James  Renwick, 
for  sixty  years,  they  never  did  bclii^ve  that  "  ignorance  was 
the  mother  of  devotion,"  and  iind  them  wliere  you  will, 
they  are  believers  in  "  getting  understanding."  While  they 
possess  an  average  amount  of  the  knowledge  "of  science 
and  philosophy,  commonly  so  called,"  to  them  the  truth 
of  the  liible  is  invineiMe  and  irrefragable.  Hence,  in 
teaching  it  to  their  children  they  ])lace  little  dependence 
on  the  less  slavish  and  more  genteel  way  of  modern  api>li- 
ances  outside  of  the  family.  They  allow  no  collateral  sys- 
tems to  supersede  the  luUilment  of  }»arental  vows,  and, 
while  scattered  like  "two  or  three  berries  in  the  top  of  the 
uppermost  bough,"  they  nre  ever  reudy  to  associate,  when 
opportunity  is  to  them  afforded,  in  Divine  Providence. 
Consequently,  for  above  two  years  they  labored  to  obtain 
a  pastor,  and  over  them,  on  November  20th,  IboG,  the  Rev. 
James  Reed  Lawson  was  installed  by  u  commission  of 
their  New  York  Presbytery. 

In  coming  to  them  for  their  encouragement,  until  they 
might  become  more  steadfast,  he  left  his  previous  pastoral 
charge  in  New  lirunswick.  To  it  he  returned,  and  after 
September  28d,  1857,  this  vacancy  was  dependent  on  sup- 
plies until  the  first  Sabbath  of  March,  18G0,  when  ^\r. 
William  Graham,  a  licentiate,  commenced  to  labor  among 
them. 

To  them  his  services  were  acceptal)le,  and  in  answer  to 
their  call  he  was  ordained  and  installed  i)astor  on  July 
12th  of  the  same  year  by  their  New  York  Presbytery. 

The  membership  of  the  church  was  then  thirty-two. 
Bringing  with  him  to  the  work  business  habits,  experience 
and  tact,  notwithstanding  the  a])parently  exclusive  charac- 
ter of  his  "  form  of  sound  words,"  he  (under  the  Divine 
blessing)  was  prospered  as  a  j)astor,  and  at  the  end  of  this 
(juarter  of  a  century,  18G8,  his  cause  was  firmly  established 
ill  Boston. 


430 


HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


CHArTER  XV. 


1868-1881 — Derry — A  monument — An  applc-trce — Only  an  echo  re- 
mained— Blessed  are  the  dead  who  die  in  the  Lord — Londonderry — 
Rev.  W.  House— Rev.  L.  B.  Pert — Fiscally  not  ahle— Kev.  Ira  C. 
Tyson — Membership — Antrim — Rev.  Mr.  Bates  removed — Variable 
provender — Twenty  poor  fellows — Rev.  W.  Cochrane — His  roll — 
Newburyporl — First  Church — Rev.  C.  Diirfec — Kev.  W.  W.  Newell, 
Junior — Eleventh  pastor — Rev.  Dr.  C.  C.  Wallace— His  church  roll — 
Second  Church — Rev.  Dr.  W.  M.  Baker — Pastor— Supplies — A  Metho- 
dist— Progressive  with  the  youth — Presbytery  invoked — Tlie  struggle 
— His  name  dropped — Membership — ^inKion — Rev.  J.  B.  Dunn — An- 
tecedents— He  is  called — Examined  by  Presbytery — His  humorous 
account  of  their  action — Farcical  procedure — Admitted — Pastor — 
Outlying  Presbyterians — Large  numbers — Well  entertained — Their 
gifts  praised — A  committee — An  eclectic  field — Rev.  Mr.  Angler's 
statement — The  executive  oflicer — Twelve  de{)artments — Mr.  Roe's 
account — Reception  easy — Simplified — The  Press  employed — His 
iinancial  skill — Results — Springfield  Street  Church  bought — By  men 
of  substance — The  loss  of  the  helm — A  tour  to  Cape  Breton — Suc- 
ce.s.sful — "  If  there  was  ony  way  to  feed  them  " — One  man  demon- 
strative in  devotion  to  the  pastor — Was  inmiersed — Opens  a  Theologi- 
cal Seminary — Two  other  professors — Three  students — Results — Books 
for  .sale — The  enterprise  not  successful — Noveltv,  etc.,  etc.,  "  waxed 
old  "—Great— Must  travel— A  delegate— Went  to  "the  Old  World" 
— One  difficulty  met — Made  a  good  sale  of  Beach  Street  Church  es- 
tate—Up town  now— 2,000  sittings— $90,000— His  building— Reli- 
gious light — Emblems  "dedicated  " — Chafed — A deaccm — Arrearages 
— The  blessednes.s — Removals — The  day  of  trial — Succumbs  to  his 
own  crop — Numbers  reported — His  farewell — Tact  its  value — So  far 
as  he  preached  the  word  his  ministry  was  successfid — "Shady 
side'' — Of  it  nothing  said — Engineered  a  Second  Boston  Presbytery 
— The  reader  can  determine — Rev.  W.  B.  Green,  Jr. — Installed — In- 
crease— Decrease — Roll  in  1881 — Faithful  jireaching  indicated — 
WInilham — Kev.  J.  Larmian  ordained — In  less  than  four  years  dis- 
mis.sed— Kev.  C.  Packard— His  installation — Death — Faithful — The 
age  of  the  church— Its  pastors — Rending — Lynn— liav.  A.  S.  Gard- 
iner, Reading — Installed — House  dedicated — Dismissed — Mr.  P.  M. 
McDonald  called — Ordained — Labors  in  Boston — Pastor  of  Reading 


IN    NEW    ENGLAND. 


431 


1  ccTio  re- 
donderry— 
,ev.  Iriv  C. 
—Variable 
His    roll— 
\\.  Newell, 
mrch  roll— 
—A  Metho- 
:he  struggle 
Dunn— An- 
s  linniorou3 
a_.Pastor— 
ined— Tlieir 
|lr.  Angler's 
Mr.   Koe's 
tloyed- His 
[hi— liy  mm 
rulon — Suo- 
lan   demon- 
a  Theologi- 
;>ilts — Books 
■tc.   "waxed 
)ld  World" 
Church  ea- 

[ding— Kt^li- 
Arrearages 

|ini"bs  to  his 
idue— So  far 
[ul-"  Sluidy 
li  Presbytery 
istal  led— In- 
indicated— 
r  vears  dis- 
ithful— The 
A.  S.  Gard- 
Mr.  P.  M. 
of  Reading 


clmrcli  and  of  Boston  chapel — Ilia  prosperity — Roll — East  Boston 
— De  Pew — Acicernian — Dr.  Riciiards — p'itfui  eiianges — Etlwurd 
Annan — Tiie  held  good — He  was  i'aithful  —  His  death — A  tiling 
not  easily  done — A  want — An  agency — Kev.  K.  F.  Marston — His  roll — 
Sprinfjlield  Sired  Church,  Boston — Some  active  men  purchased  an  edifice 
— Third  cliurch  organized — Pastor  called — Settled — The  lield  a  failure 
— Other  services  not  appreciated — A  redundancy — South  Boston  a 
faihire — A  hall  hired — Services — Rev.  L.  H.  Angier — Rev.  Dr.  W. 
M.  Baker — A  liouse  built — Debt — Not  aided  as  they  ought  to  have 
been — Rev.  W.  H.  Sybrandt — Faithful — His  roll — The  Gennan  Pres- 
byterian church,  Ldwrence,  Mass. — Tiie  Rev.  Augustus  H.  Hager — 
His  roll  and  increase — Lowell — Vicissitudes — The  Kev.  Soltau  F.  Cal- 
houn— His  services — Rev.  R.  Court— No  other  in  the  city,  and  he  is 
prosperous — His  roll  and  increase — Providence,  R.  I. — Tiie  Old  School 
party  there — Advanced — Built  a  ciiurch — The  (ioihic  contagion — 
Pav — Rev.  J.  Dickson  initiated — Rev.  T.  Parrv — Some  change  their 
colors — Rev.  Mr.  Morrill  recently  there — Elders  report  a  roll — 
Connecticut — 18()8-1881 — Three  congregations  and  a  fourth — Kncour- 
aging  continuations — Rev.  H.  W.  Ia'C  in  Thompsonvillt — Notiiing  un- 
nsual — Short  vacancies — Dismissed — Rev.  F.  Shepherd  Banium — 
Working  force  efficient — Roll — Ilartjord — Erected  an  edifice — De- 
scription of  it — An  unhappy  change — Trouble — Courts  invoked — Pew 
patronage — The  pastor's  experience — "Seven  suits" — Mandamus — 
Pastor  continues — Congregation  increases — Roll — Stamford — Kev.  A. 
8.  Twombly,  horn  1868  till  1872— Rev.  E.  Van  Slyke— Rev.  R.  Vail 
— Installed — His  roll — Brid(jeport — Rev.  H.  S.  Hinsdale  resigned — 
Rev.  H.  A.  Davenport  succeeds — Installed  in  1878 — His  roll — J)arien 
— Rev.  J.  W.  Colenian  installed — Resigned — Membership  in  1881 — 
July  7tli,  1881,  Rev.  E.  P.  Cleaveland  installed  there — Ihufncnut 
Memorial  Church — Roll — New  Haven — C-hurch  organized  in  IHl'.i  — 
On  account  of  financial  embarrassment  abandoned — Creenwich — Per- 
sons withdraw  from  Congregational  Society — Organized  April  2()tli, 
1881 — Elected  Rev.  Dr.  Sawyer  their  pa.stor — Roll — New  Boston,  N.H. 
— Rev.  F.  Allen,  pastor — His  roll. 


Eacti  of  the  last  six  quarters  of  a  century  to  which  our 
attention  has  been  turned,  we  have  ben;un  with  Old  Derry. 
Tn  our  last  we  saw  her  as  to  her  distinctive  princi])les  in 
doctrine,  government  and  worsl:ip,  extinguished  on  her 
own  soil  by  the  quasi  theocracy  supported  by  the  Athe- 
nian democracy,  which  gave  specific  identity  to  New  Eng- 
land, socially,  civilly  and  religiously.  Before  the  linal 
sparlc  had  iled,  it  was  almost  agitated  to  procure  for  the 
germ  of  all  tiie  worth,  moral  and  material  of  this  old 
mother  congregation,  a  monument.  Hence  the  editor, son 
of  the  author,  in  concluding  his  history  of  the  town,  says  : 
"  In  regard  to  the  erection  of  a  monument  to  commemor- 


432 


HISTOllY   OF   PHESBYTERIANISM 


ate  the  spot  on  wliich  the  first  sermon  was  preached  in 
Londonderry,  it  may  be  remarked,  that  mucli  interet^t  is 
felt  in  the  execution  of  such  a  work  at  an  early  day.  It 
is  believed  that  a  shaft,  or  obelisk  of  <j:rnnite  may  be  com- 
])leted  for  from  two  to  four  hundred  dollars.  The  editor 
is  authorized  to  say,  that  the  sum  of  fifty  (bjllars  may  be 
eonsidered  as  pledged,  provided  an  additional  sum  ol'  not 
less  than  three  hundred  dollars  is  contributed  during;  the 
year  1851.  As  an  inscri))tion,  on  tlie  front  side,  Isaiah 
xxxii.  2,  the  text  from  whicii  the  first  s(>rmon  in  this  town 
was  preached  (under  the  wide-sjH'eadin,:^  branches  of  a 
venerable  oak,  wdiicli,  for  nn)re  than  a  century,  marked 
this  spot)  by  the  Kev.  James  McGregor,  on  A[>ril  12th, 
1719,  would  be  appro|)riate. 

In  1851  Presbyterianism  in  this  town  was  dead  and 
buried,  and  the  "  mu(!h  interest  fell  "'  became  a  thin<^  of 
the  past.  An  ap))le-tree  is  said  to  mark  the  spot  as  a 
monument  of  their  Presbyterian  worth.  In  enterinsj;  on 
this  quarter  of  a  century,  we  find  her  eulopy  ])ronoun(!ed 
on  the  one  hundred  and  fiftietii  anniversary  of  the  settle- 
ment, or  on  April  12th,  18G1).  The  orators  were  the  Hon. 
Charles  Bell,  Horace  Greeley,  Dr.  Taylor,  Professor  Patter- 
son and  others. 

The  compilation  of  their  speeches,  and  other  matter 
joertinent  to  the  occasion,  was  made  by  11.  G.  Mack,  Esq., 
of  Londonderry,  and  forms  ''a  nicely  bound  book  of  124 
pages.  It  has  gone  into  the  hands  of  the  antiquarian 
stores,  and  is  held  at  high  prices." 

The  occasion  called  out  intellectual  powers,  which  it 
would  not  be  ea,sy  to  surj)ass,  inherited  from  tiie  Scotch- 
Irish ;  but  as  to  the  logic  and  sound  doctrine  of  "the 
oppressed  brethren,"  only  an  echo  remained.  There  was 
in  the  town  no  longer  "  the  voice  of  rejoicing  and  of  salva- 
tion, even  in  the  dwellings  of  the  righteous,"  after  the 
manner  of  "  West  Running-brook ;  "  no  longer  the  singing 
of  "sweet  psalms"  in  Uie  house  of  tiie  Lord;  no  longer 
"the  doctrine  of  God  our  Saviour"  in  the  ])uli)it,  which 
had,  even  then,  become  one  of  the  bulwarks  of  New  Eng- 
land theology!  But  "  Blessed  arc  the  dead  which  die  in 
the  Lord." 

In  Londonderry  the  Rev.  William  House,  settled  Octo- 
ber 7th,  1857,  continued  to  be  pastor  till  February  26th, 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


433 


!         i! 


icrl  in 

■rt'r^t  is 

ly.     it 

le  corn- 
editor 

nay  l»o 
of  not 

mil,  the 

,  Isaiah 

lis  town 

es  of  a 

1  narked 

'il  12tli, 

ead  and 
thin*];  of 
,pot  as  a 
evin<j;  on 
inounced 
he  sottle- 
the  Hon. 
L>r  Patter- 

;r  matter 

cl<,  Esq., 

bk  of  12-^ 
Aquarian 

hvhich  it 
Scotch- 
of  "tlie 
fhere  Avas 
,  of  salva- 
laftor  the 
le  sinjiinp; 
l»o  longer 
lit,  winch 
;e\v  Enix- 
3h  die  in 

led  Octo- 
lary  26th, 


1873.  Ilis  pastorate  appears  to  have  been  harmonious. 
The  generation  were  gone  who  required  doctrine,  worship 
and  affection  between  jxistor  and  |)eople  of  the  Rev.  David 
McGregor  type.  Tlic  passing  audiences  did  not  receive 
and  hear  the  doctrine,  maintain  the  worship,  nor  feel  that 
aifection.  After  tw^o  years  of  spiritual  subsistence  on  sup- 
ply, the  congregation  called  the  Rev.  Luther  B.  Pert. 

He  was  settled  over  them  on  February  23d,  1875.  In 
his  ministry,  it  is  believed,  he  was  faithful  under  his  cir- 
cumstances, but  the  si)irit  of  the  land  in  the  last  quarter 
of  tlie  nineteenth  century  overtook  him,  as  well  as  accumu- 
lating years,  and  he  was  dismissed  in  September,  1879. 

"  There  is  that  scattereth  and  yet  increaseth."  Whether 
it  is  religiously  so,  with  this  old  church,  or  not,  I  know 
not.  But  a  candidate  for  the  vacant  pulpit  was  told,  that 
fiscally  they  are  not  able  to  support  a  pastor,  even  while 
they  have  the  interest  of  the  nine  thousand  dollar  Pinker- 
ton  fund  by  way  of  supplement.  In  the  statistical  returns 
for  1881,  the  Rev.  Ira  C.  Tyson  is  reported  as  pastor  elect, 
and  the  membership  is  141.  So  that,  in  the  one  hundred 
and  forty-fifth  year  of  her  age,  this  church  is  fulfilling  her 
mission.  Let  it  be  remembered,  however,  that  the  in- 
scription on  Elder  Pinkerton's  tombstone  is  no  insignifi- 
cant force  or  factor  in  keeping  her  in  her  denominational 
position. 

From  Antriin,  N.  H.,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bates  removed  in 
18G6.  "  For  u  year  and  an  half  this  church  then  lived  on 
the  variable  i)rovender  aflbrded  by  candidates.  It  is  said 
that  about  hccnty  of  these  poor  fellows  came  and  went. 
Some  of  them  were  desirable  men  whom  the  congregation 
could  not  command." 

On  January  1st,  18G8,  ]\Ir.  Warren  R.  Cochrane  (a 
graduate  of  Dartmouth)  i)egan  service  here,  and  was  or- 
dained on  March  18th,  18G9.  Having  "another  man's 
line  of  things  made  ready  to  his  hand,"  and,  in  1877,  a 
staff  of  six  "  deacons  "  ( this  word  is  possibly  in  the  vocabu- 
lary of  the  land  used  here  for  ruling  elders),  being  now  in 
the  vigor  of  manhood,  he  is  prospering  in  the  Master's 
work,  returning,  in  1881,  a  roll  of  2G0  church  members. 

In  tiie  First  church,  ycicbiiri/jxift,  the  ninth  pastor,  the 
Rev.  Charles  S.  Durfee,  was  installed  September  8th,  1869. 
His  opportunity  for  leaving  any  very  permanent  impres- 
28 


m 


HISTORY   OP  PRESBYTERIANISM 


sions  of  the  value  and  power  of  Divine  truth  upon  his  peo- 
ple was  short,  as  he  was  dismissed  on  July  29th,  1872. 

He  was  on  May  7th,  1874,  succeeded  by  the  Kev,  Wil- 
liam W.  Newell,  Jr.  What  his  antecedents  were,  I  cannot 
affirm,  but  his  pastorate  was  acceptable  and  successful. 
He  resigned  on  June  3d,  1880,  and  is  officiating:  as  a  hqc.yc- 
tary  in  New  York  city.  The  Rev.  Charles  C.  Wallace,  1).  D., 
the  eleventh  pastor  since  1746,  was,  for  y(;ars,  a  prominent 
orthodox  Congrcgationalist  i)astor  at  Manchester,  N.  II. 
What  his  type  of  theology  is,  is  not  affirmed,  l)ut  his 
beginning  has  been  numerically  very  favorable.  In  Iqss 
than  one  year,  as  pastor,  he  reports  a  roll  of  821,  an  in- 
crease over  the  report  of  1880  of  47  meml)ers. 

After  continuing  as  a  vacancy  for  nearly  four  years,  the 
Second  Presbyterian  churchy  Kewhuryport,  called  the  Rev. 
William  M.  Baker,  D.  D.,  who  was  installed  on  June  20th, 
1872. 

For  seventeen  years  the  mantles  of  Dana  and  Eells  had 
not  fallen  on  any  of  his  four  other  i)redccessors.  Their 
Presbyterianism  appears  to  have  been  of  a  very  mild  type. 
Consequently,  to  teach  and  uphold  the  doctrine  of  "salva- 
tion by  grace,"  he  found  to  be  difficult,  and  he  terminated 
a  pastorate  of  twenty-tv\'o  months  on  April  14th,  1874. 

How  far  the  commercial  depression  (began  on  Septem- 
ber 17th,  1873)  affected  his  people  in  sustaining  ordi- 
nances, cannot  be  stated,  but,  from  different  causes,  they 
had  become  "  men  of  like  passions  with  others  "  in  the  re- 
ligious communities  by  which  they  were  surrounded.  Con- 
sequently, after  his  departure  they  had  sup})lies  for  above 
three  years.  Among  these,  one  of  the  Methodist  persua- 
sion, the  Rev.  J.  A.  Bartlett,  became  attractive,  and  was  in- 
stalled on  July  5th,  1877.  He  was  (in  his  way)  a  pro- 
gressive with  the  youth  and  the  less  informed  part  of  the 
congregation.  New  methods,  more  attractive  than  preach- 
ing "the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ,"  were  enqjloyed  to 
allure  sinners  into  "  the  kingdom,"  and,  in  a  few  months, 
those  whose  hearts  "  trembled  for  the  ark  of  God  "  had 
(after  much  trouble)  to  invoke  the  Presbytery  for  the  pre- 
servation of  their  ecclesiastical  existence. 

Men  in  the  ministry  are  at  times  "  held  highly  in  love," 
not  so  much  "  for  their  work's  sake  "  as  for  inferior  con- 
siderations.   So  it  was  here  by  the  inexperienced,  the  gay 


IN    NEW  ENGLAND. 


435 


and  thoughtless ;  and  the  strnfrgle  was  not  short.  Still  it 
was  terrninatrd  l)y  his  dismission  by  the  Presbytery  on 
Aiiij;ust  31st,  1879.  But  not  until  they  had  "bitten  and 
devoured  one  another,"  and  became  extensively  "con- 
sumed." For,  in  ISSl,  his  name  does  not  appear  on  the 
roll  of  the  diinomination,  wliile  the  congregation,  reduced 
to  a  memberslii])  of  52,  is  vacant. 

Among  the  variations  which  occurred  during  the  first 
lialf  of  this  quarter  of  a  century,  we  liave  to  note  tlie  ar- 
rival of  the  Rev.  James  Blair  Dunn  in  Boston.  He  luid  in 
New  York  entered  the  ministry  (according  to  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Baird  of  his  own  Synod)  at  first  among  the  Methodists. 
He  was  a  ready  speaker  on  temperance  subjects,  was  re- 
ceived by  the  >s'ew  School  Presbyterians,  and  in  their  con- 
nection had  i)efore  1<S()8  officiated  in  New  York  city. 

The  congregation  in  Boston  gathered  by  the  Rev.  A.  S. 
^luir,  as  in  connection  with  the  Canadian  ])orti()n  of  the 
Free  Church  of  Scotland,  and  cared  for  by  the  Rev.  John 
Ross  and  the  Rev.  Wm.  McLaren,  since  1858  had  from 
"  the  Old  School  party  "  enjoyed  as  pastors  and  stated  sup- 
ply the  Rev.  Messrs.  ]Magiil,  Bixby  and  De  Lancy,  and  it 
was  now  vacant.  A  Rev.  Mr.  Cochrane,  then  resident  in 
New  Jersey,  was  willing  (it  was  said)  to  serve  them,  but 
took  excej^tions  to  the  debt  of  twenty-five  thousand  dol- 
lars, at  that  time  resting  on  their  church  estate  (purchased 
from  the  Unitarians  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Magill),  and  it  is 
said  reconnnended  his  friend  to  (as  they  were  for  years 
called)  "  the  Beach  Street  church  people."  Although  he 
had  on  previous  occasions  visited  them,  liis  permanent 
services  began  with  September,  1868.  A  Mr.  Weston  had 
been  successful  in  walking  from  Mtiine  to  Chicago,  and 
from  this  walk,  by  drawing  an  allegory,  the  preacher  as- 
tonished his  hearers,  and  with  each  succeeding  Sabbath 
"still  the  wonder  grew,"  until  before  the  equinox  he 
liad  become  the  man  of  their  choice.  The  Londonderr}'' 
Presbyter}'  had  long  held  one  of  its  stated  meetings  on 
the  last  Wednesday  in  October,  but  in  order  to  expedite 
a  call  and  settlement,  by  examining  and  admitting  this 
gentleman,  for  a  certificate  of  oflicial  standing  was  not 
then  a  sutiicient  passport  from  the  New  to  the  Old  School 
division,  tiuit  court  was  convoked  to  meet  in  Bostoa 
before  the  first  day  of  said  month. 


436 


HISTORY   OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


Of  the  mombors  from  the  rural  districts,  the  moderator, 
the  Rov.  Mr.  House,  of  Londonderry,  and  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Allen,  from  Marblehead,  attended.  A  working  force  was 
improvised  by  calling  to  their  aid  some  three  or  more  pas- 
tors from  the  ortliodox  churches  of  the  city.  Dr.  Allen 
■was  a  Calvinist,  "  a  master  in  Israel,"  and  Mr.  House  in- 
sisted that  he  should  examine  the  candidate. 

This  duty  fell  officially  on  tlie  moderator,  who,  but  too 
fairly,  represented  the  s])rivelled  court  by  asking  as  a 
first  question,  "Mr.  D.  Are  there  more  Gods  than  one?" 
This  and  the  next  one  were  answered  satisfactorily. 

But  "the  decrees"  disturbed  their  harmony,  and  "the 
special  act  of  providence  "  in  the  twelfth  question  in  the 
New  England  jn-imer  being  to  some  of  them  a  "  foolish 
and  an  unlearned  question,  gendered  strife," 

The  applicant  was  a  master  of  tact,  and  as  two  consider- 
ations pressed  upon  his  mind,  the  fear  that  he  might  be 
interrogated  through  the  book,  and  that  his  sus})ense 
might  last  till  "  the  going  down  of  the  sun,"  he  of  the  de- 
baters began  to  ask  questions.  This  Hank  movement  pro- 
tected him,  but  it  did  not  stay  their  sectarian  ranct)r. 

"  Did  all  mankind  fall  in  Adam's  first  transgression?" 
when  by  him  answered  aroused  in  some  of  them  "the 
wrath  of  man."  They  "waxed  valiant  in  fight."  This 
could  not  be  controlled  when  it  was  asked,  "  Wherein  con- 
sists the  sinfulness  of  that  estate  whereinto  man  fell?" 
Polemic  "  New  England  theology  "  against  Calvinism,  with 
the  aid  of  the  opinions  of  the  New  School  Presbyterian  ap- 
plicant, made  their  "  anger  fierce."  "  Brotherly  love,"  even 
of  the  tj'pe  of  "  Joab  and  Amasa,"  and  the  quasi  Presby- 
tery now  "shook  hands  and  parted."  For  when  the 
question  was  reached,  "  What  is  the  misery  of  that  estate 
whereinto  man  fell?"  it  was  no  longer,  "Blest  be  the  tie 
that  binds,"  but  the  termination  of  their  associated  work. 
They  fell  "out  by  the  way,"  and  separated.  With  this 
question  unanswered,  the  applicant  was  admitted. 

The  combatants  ceased  l^efore  they  had  completed  "  the 
first  man  Adam  "  and  the  history  of  his  covenant. 

"Tlie  second  man,  the  Lord  from  heaven,"  although  it 
was  supposed  that  as  a  Presbytery  they  had  constituted  by 
his  "  power  "  and  "  in  his  name,'  they  did  not  reach. 

The  electing  love  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus,  his  person,  of- 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


437 


ficcs  and  work,  and  the  application  of  his  redemption  to 
men  by  tiic  Holy  Spirit  were  not  overtaken. 

TIic  applicant  attorwards  f:ave  *'the  conclusion  of  the 
matter"  to  the  late  Rev,  John  Brash  in  this  way:  "They 
be^an  by  asking  me  if  there  were  more  Gods  than  one? 
and  left  me  in  a  state  of  misery.  In  this  condition  they 
admitted  me,  and  I  am  a  good  Old  School  Presbyterian." 

This  farcical  procedure  shewed  how  far  a  part  of  the 
actors  "had  learned  Clirist,"  how  far  they  had  "been 
taught  l)y  him  as  the  truth  is  in  Jesus,"  how  competent  or 
otherwise  a  majority  of  them  were  to  "  take  care  of  the 
house  of  God,"  and  just  to  what  a  degree  the  charity  of 
the  last  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  will  subserve  or 
maintain  "  sound  doctrine,"  promote  the  salvation  of 
souls  and  the  glory  of  Jehovah.  If  historical  truth  did 
not  demand  it,  gladly  would  I  say,  "  Publish  it  not  in  the 
streets  of  Askelon." 

Thus  admitted  to  Presbytery  and  placed  in  charge  of  the 
congregation,  he  spread  himself  out  in  eclectic  style.  Be- 
side the  one  hundred  and  ten  members  brought  there  by 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Bixby  from  the  Pine  street  orthodox  church, 
and  outlying  Presbyterians  gathered  in  by  his  predeces- 
sors, colonial  agitations  providentially  favored  him.  The 
confederation  of  the  provinces  forming  Canada  was  ex- 
ceedingly disagreeable  to  many  persons,  esi)ecially  in 
Nova  Scotia.  They  by  it  believed  their  prosperity  to  be 
retarded,  and  large  numbers  in  the  morning  of  manhood 
and  womanhood  left  their  Presbyterian  homes,  and  came 
to  Boston. 

Having  (in  many  cases)  no  well-informed  conscientious 
views  of  "truth"  and  "sound  doctrine,"  much  loss  of  "a 
pure  offering  "  of  the  appointed  praise  to  God  in  worship, 
thr  "\ame  Presbyterian  was  to  them  too  generally  enough, 
wh:  J  they  were  well  entertained  with  a  teacher  in  "gown 
and  bands,"  and  associated  with  a  large  compound  congre- 
gation "  rejoicing  at  the  sound  of  the  organ."  He  praised 
the  people  for  their  gifts  in  prayer.  He  arranged  prayer- 
meetings  for  the  junior  men  and  women  in  juxtai)osition 
of  place  and  time,  so  that  when  their  devotions  were 
ended,  they  readily  met  one  another. 

Beside  this,  a  connnittee  were  employed  to  see  the  ladies 
home.    For  a  Mr.  Philij),  who  had  left  his  betrothed  iii 


4;?8 


HISTORY  OF  PRESnYTERIANISM 


Sootliind,  this  (luty  of  continucrl  escort  lost  its  rharms. 
lie  would  not  "  bo  won  by  the  conversation  of"  the  ladies, 
and  lie  left  tliem. 

This  pastor  entered  the  eclectic  ecclesiastical  field  so 
freely  in  his  arrangements  under  the  Presbyterian  name, 
that  in  addressing  his  people  once  on  a  convivial  occasion, 
the  Kev.  Mr.  Angier,  then  supply  of  the  8outii  Boston 
Presbyterian  Cluirch,  said  to  tliem,  "  You  here  in  liench 
street,  are  substantially  Presbyterians ;  you  are  part  or- 
thodox C'ongregationalists,  and  you  have  adopted  the  best 
parts  of  Methodism.  Tiiis  makes  you  a  strong  church,  and 
that  is  what  you  are." 

According  to  rules  noted  by  a  ^Ir.  Roe,  which  he 
adopted,  "the  pastor  considered  himself  the  executive  of- 
ficer and  leader  of  the  churcii,  and  every  member,  either 
as  ofHcer  or  private,  had  something  to  do."  The  work 
was  arranged  in  twelve  departments,  and  the  numerical 
increase  was  very  great.  In  three  years  (according  to  Mr. 
Roe)  the  church  had  added  to  its  roll  the  names  of  six 
hundred  and  fifty  persons. 

His  process  of  reception  was  easy.  "  How  do  you  feel, 
Mr.  A.  ?  "  answered  all  purposes  in  one  case.  His  require- 
ments for  admission  became  not  a  little  simplified  after 
the  reunion  of  tlie  New  and  Old  School  parties,  on  No- 
vember 12th,  18()9,  when  an  "  assent  to  a  creed  "was  no 
longer  considered  to  be  necessary,  excepting  for  ministers, 
elders  and  deacons. 

If  this  had  been  the  manner  of  the  Old  School  before 
the  reunion,  tlie  church  rolls  of  his  predecessors  might 
have  been  ujuch  larger. 

He  also  employed  the  press  to  advantage,  not  only  by 
inserting  on  Saturday,  under  some  odd  designation,  the 
topic  for  Sabbath,  but  as  one  of  his  elders  was  on  an  ed- 
itorial staff,  a  scholarly  presentation  of  his  subject  was 
very  generally  given  on  Monday.  Beyond  all  this  ability 
in  eccle.si;istical  administration,  his  financial  skill  was  su- 
perior. Here  he  was  "the  executive  officer  and  leader  of 
the  churcii  "  also.  Under  his  })lastic  hand  tlie  finances 
increased  from  about  S2,00()  previously,  so  as  to  secure  to 
him  in  three  years  $5,(J()0  per  annum. 

"Riding  the  whirlwind"  of  prosperity  Avas,  however, 
easier  than  "directing  the  storm  "  which  it  raised.    In  co- 


IN   NEW  ENGLAND. 


439 


operation  w'lih  liitn,  men  of  suhstiinco  bouffht  a  clnirch  es- 
tate on  Sprinjjjlield  street,  over  which  (as  in  "  IVacli  Street 
church")  he  endeavored  to  "  consider  himself  the  exec- 
utive olUeer  and  lender."  M(mi  are  creatures  of  opinion, 
and  others  did  not  thus  view  the  enteri)rise. 

The  loss  of  the  helm  hecame  a  heavy  strain  on  liis  am- 
bition ;  his  "strength  became  weakened  in  the  way,"  and 
with  his  physician  (Dr.  W.)  he  nuide  his  first  tour  for  re- 
cuperation to  Cape  Breton.  As  "  nothing  succeeds  liko 
Fuccess,"  not  a  few  ministers  in  that  region  consigned  their 
members  to  his  care,  and  to  him  in  autunui  they  came  by 
scores.  This  process  was  (tluring  another  summer)  re- 
peated with  success.  The  increase  of  Ids  charge  from 
all  these  ap])lianees  was  decidedly  very  great.  So  much 
so,  that  an  intelligent  Calvinist,  from  Belfast,  told  the 
writer,  "  We  are  getting  in  large  numbers,  if  there  was  ony 
way  to  feed  them." 

He  had  not  a  few  who  were  read}''  to  "  say  amen  at  his 
giving  of  thanks,"  but  one  of  these,  who  gave  more  de- 
monstrative evidence  than  others  (boldly  declaring  that 
"  Mr.  D.  was  the  man,  every  sermon  which  he  preached 
converted  a  soul "),  after  a  few  years  thus  extolling  his 
pastor,  was  immersed. 

Not  content  with  the  duties  of  the  pastorate,  in  imita- 
tion of  the  Rev.  Charles  Spurgeon,  he  opened  a  theologi- 
cal seminary. 

Assuming  the  position  of  president,  from  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Hodge's  Lectures  as  a  text-book,  he  gave  his  weekly  pre- 
lections. The  Rev.  Soltau  F.  Calhoun,  then  of  Lowell, 
filled  the  chair  of  languages,  and  the  Rev.  ]\Ir.  Gardner, 
of  Jamaica  Plains,  as  a  third  professor,  supplemented  all 
needed  instruction  not  given  by  the  others.  Three  pupils 
sat  "  at  the  feet  of  these  three  doctors  of  the  law."  One; 
of  these,  trained  (near  d'Alsace)  under  a  parental  roof, 
where  family  worship  was  maintained,  "  evening,  and 
morning  and  at  noon,"  had  acted  as  a  preacher  among  the 
regular  Ba))tists  before  he  united  with  this  pastor's  church. 
He  had  also  sought  licensure  from  the  First  Boston  Pres- 
bytery. But  as  they  required  the  equivalent  of  a  course 
ot'  study  at  a  college,  he  withdrew,  and  not  knowing  that 
"there  is  no  royal  road  to  geometry,"  he  sought  it  here. 
Work,  church  work,  Bible  reading,  services  of  song  and 


440 


HISTORY   OF  PRESnYTERIANISM 


lay  prcachin!]j  wore  now  in  vojjiic  cxtonsivoly,  as  substitutes 
for  the  work  of  tlic  ministry,"  .'Uid  lie  tli()U<,'ht  to  transcend 
these  by  a  course  of  study  at  IkMch  street. 

The  otiiers  also  were  men  "  dcsirinjr  a  pood  work,  tlio 
ofHce  of  a  bisliop."  The  pracc  of  novelty  gradually  wore 
of,  and  as  the  professors  found  only  t(Ml  in  the  enterprise, 
it  was  abandoned.  Mr.  A.  resumed  his  "eraft"as  a  e;ir- 
vcr,  Mr.  M.  his  "  occujiation  "  as  a  carpenter,  and  Mr.  W. 
was  afterwards  settled  as  a  minister  in  a  Free-will  Baptist 
congregation  in  South  Boston  ! 

To  make  so  much  inculcation  cfTective,  Calvinistic  books 
■were  entrusted  by  the  business  superintendent  of  the 
Board  of  Publication  at  Philadeli)liia  to  a  Mr,  F.  W. 
Walsh;  who  attempted  (it  would  almost  seem)  "to  beard 
the  lion  in  his  den,"  by  exi)()sing  them  for  sale  in  a  part 
of  the  "  Wesleyan  Association  Building"  in  Boston.  "Ar- 
minianism  had,"  a  century  before,  "  become  respectable  " 
in  New  England,  and  now  in  its  geometrical  ratio,  amidst 
its  varied  ramifications  and  products  on  the  common 
mind,  this  enterprise  could  be  but  a  little  more  hopeful, 
than  the  case  of  the  winter  traveller  on  the  uninhabited 

1)rairie,  when  he  strikes  his  last  match  to  kindle  brush  to 
:eep  himself  from  pcirishing. 

Beside  Mr.  \V.  a  saleswoman  was  employed,  wages  ran 
on,  the  sales  did  not  become  extensive,  and  the  enterprise, 
like  almost  any  other  instrumentality  which,  there,  would 
bring  men  to  a  knowledge  of  "  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus, 
was  chilled  off.*  Mr.  W.  seems  to  have  been  a  failure, 
and  when  his  stock  was  scattered,  the  manuscript  records 
of  former  Presbyteries,  lodged  there  ])y  the  thoughtless 
custodian,  were  lost.  One  volume  of  them  was  a<'ierwards 
discovered  and  restored  by  a  clergyman  of  the  Baptist 
persuasion.  Beside  this  volume  (as  their  clerk  informed 
me)  they  have  no  records  anterior  to  18G9.  This  were  an 
irretrievable  loss,  if  said  minutes  had  not  been  copied. 

Novelty,  agitation,  sociables,  receptions,  concerts,  pic- 
nics. Roe  s  arrangements  and  sensationalism  had  now  been 
invoked;  but,  not  having  the  abiding  character  of  doctrinal 
truth,  they  "waxed  old."     With  the  pastorate,  the  semi- 


*N.  B. — ^Tlie  books  of  that  Board  can  there  still  be  obtained  at  tlie 
Congregatioiialist  House  on  Beacon  street. 


IN    NEW  ENGLAND. 


441 


nnry  .irifl  bnok-storo,  bosido  (for  a  scnson)  a  pnrochial 
ro;i(lin;i-rooiu  on  his  hunds,  he  hccainc  f^rcat,  Jiiid  to  re- 
cuperate, if  not  to  beeonie  greater,  lie  must  travel.  Hav- 
ing previously  persuaded  his  General  Assembly,  that  ho 
"Was  the  lit  representative  man  of  their  denomination 
beyond  any  other,  to  appear  before  similar  church  courts 
in  North  Jiritain  and  Ireland,  and  the  equal  of  the  Kev. 
Dr.  Cuyler,  "  whose  ])raise  is  in  all  the  churches,"  he, 
early  in  March,  1872,  proceeded  to  Europe,  Africa  and 
Asia. 

By  weekly  paying  communications  to  a  pood  paper  in 
Boston,  and,  of  course,  his  expenses  to  and  from  Great 
]')ritain  borne  by  those  who  sent  him,  his  expenditures 
Avere  not  severe.  In  the  meantime  he  garnered  enough  of 
tlie  "  Footsteps  of  St.  Paul "  to  form  many  a  popular  dis- 
course after  his  return.  One  difficulty  had  in  the  previ- 
ous year  crossed  his  ])ath. 

Some  persons,  familiar  with  the  writings  of  the  late 
Rev.  R.  M.  McCheyne,  thought  they  could  trace  an  anal- 
ogy bordering  on  identity,  between  a  manual  of  that  au- 
thor and  one  published  by  this  pastor  over  his  own  name. 
Some  of  those  eml)arked  in  the  Springfield  Street  fihurch 
enterprise  were  credited  with  this  discovery.  They  had 
now  refused  his  counsel,  and  went  the  length  to  say,  that 
in  that  church  they  "  must  have  an  educated  man." 

From  his  mission  he  returncxl  in  time  to  aid  in  making 
a  most  advantageous  sale  of  the  Beach  Street  church 
estate.  At  some  twelve  dollars,  or  so,  per  each  foot  square, 
it  brought  8115,()()U.  By  applying  to  a  judge  of  the 
"Supreme  Court  in  Chambers,"  he  sanctioned  the  sale 
and  gave  to  the  city  a  title,  while  the  city  attorney  de- 
clared, that  in  no  otlier  way,  as  Presbyterians,  could  they 
give  a  relialjle  deed.  The  debt  of  $25,0(JO  was  now  re- 
moved, and  the  city  afterwards  sold  the  part  not  taken  to 
widen  the  street,  for  less  than  five  dollars  per  foot  square. 
"  Up  town  "  had  been  the  idea  with  him,  so  that  he  might 
allure  the  dwellers  in  the  "  Back  Bay  "  mansions  to  be- 
come Presbyterians.  The  "Court  in  Chambers,"  when  it 
created  for  the  city  a  title  to  the  church  site,  sanctioned 
their  occupancy  by  the  congregation  of  a  selected  lot. 
The  new  building  must  have  a  capacity  for  two  thousand 
sittersj  or  it  would  not  please  the  pastor.     After  keeping 

\ 


J  8 

I 


442 


inSTOUY   OP   rUESBYTKRIANISM 


him  nt  l)ny  for  n  yoar,  durinp;  wliicli  tiino  tlicy  liircd  a 
Ji;ij)(ist  clmrcli,  tlu.'ir  house  was  (inally  coiislriuli'd  to  scat 
twelve  ImiHlred  and  forty  persons,  leavin;^  a  lot  unoeeii- 
jtied.  Knti'rin^  the  niiirket  with  ninety  thous;ind  dollars, 
an<l  havin^j:  tlu;  niMterial,  stone,  brick,  iron  and  wood  c(»n- 
tainc(l  in  their  former  eiUlicc  to  use,  they  oifuht  to  havc! 
completed  a  iiouso  larj^o  enough  for  ;n»ythin^  then;  under 
the  I'reshytcrian  name,  hut  it  was  otherwise.  'J'he  struc- 
ture has  four  ^ahh-s  and  on  each  of  the  north  and  west 
ones  he  placed  a  massive  stone  cross,  while  the  steeple 
"was  carried  up  to  the  sumniit  of  the  roof  and  remaiMs  a 
monutnent  of  hi}j;her  aspirations,  even  far  ahovo  the  in- 
tendiid  ones  hundred  and  sixty  feet  of  spire.  Amonu;  "  Mos- 
ton  notions"  you  can,  in  Hoylston  street,  huy  "  reli}:;ious 
floods."  "Keli^Mous  goods''  must,  in  order  to  ^dorify  (iod 
and  save  souls,  ho  exposed  to  use;  under  "  relifj;ious  li},dit," 
and  they  cannot  all  he  j)laced  in  one  market.  Some  <tf 
them  n)'ist  he  ])ut  in  ])osition,  before  they  are  consecratetl 
and  enjoyed  relijiiously,  such  as  vestries  (2  Kin^s  x.  22), 
altars,  or^^ans,  holy  water,  baldachins  and  hells.  Nearly 
all  others,  probal)ly,  may  be  found  at  the  countt-r. 

"  Religious  li<:;ht"  is  costly,  yet  two  larjj;e  windows  from 
the  street,  not  unlike  "  extra vasated  blood,"  were  ])Ut,  one 
in  the  north  aiid  one  in  the  west  wall.  "  in  one  are  em- 
blems of  the  Laml),  liible,  Cross  and  Crown,  Alpha  and 
Onu'jifa,  and  two  line  li)j;ures  of  Matthew  and  Mark  ;  in  the 
other,  the  emblenis  are  the  Cup,  Anchor,  Dove,  /.  II.  S., 
and  the  other  evan^j^elists." 

The  old  Unitarian  "orjjjan  became  essentially  new  by 
new  adornm(!nts,  frescoed  pipes,  greater  capacity  and  en- 
largement." All  this  wa.s  "dedicated"  on  January  Ath, 
1877. 

Failing  to  see  Presbyterian  scriptural  simplicity  in  these 
decorations,  the  people  allowed  him  to  extensively  us«!  his 
own  means  in  the  i>urcliase.  This  chafed  him  anew, 
v/hile  twenty  thousand  dollars  more  had  to  l)e  borrowed 
to  pay  up  till  J.S7<'),  tin;  date  cut  on  the  house-corner.  On 
a  second  niortyatje  six  thousand  dollars  adtlitional  were 
obtained,  while  lifteen  hundred  dollars,  to  cover  a  "  lloat- 
in^i;  '  del)t.  had  tiu;  endorsement  of  oiu;  of  the  deacons  (a 
man  of  substance)  on  the  note  of  the  connnittce.  'IMie  in- 
tereat  of  tliia  the  deacon  ccaaed  to  i)ay,  by  having  the  uu- 


IN    NEW    ENGLAND. 


443 


ocoui)io(l  p<>rlion  of  tlio  oliurch  lot  sold  for  two  thousjind 
dollars.  This  rclit'Vi'd  him,  hut  it  only  reduced  the  ar- 
rearages claimed  t(t  (il'teen  liundre(l  dollars,  "'riiehless- 
ediiess  they  spoke  of,'' and  the  "  ])luckin^  out  of  eyes  to 
jxive  to  "  him  in  fornu'r  years  ((jial.  iv.  ib),  were  now  llout- 
in;.r  into  tin;  past. 

Removals  from  the  city,  althoujjh  nuniorous,  wore  not 
the  only  caus(^  of  decrease  in  his  nmnlxTs.  I'opery  <lrew 
back,  perhaps,  hut  onc^  of  those  taken  fro«n  her  fold  ;  the 
other  two  persuasions,  of  i'reshyterians  a,  lew,  while  tlu; 
I\Iethodists,  {]\r.  lOpiscopalians,  and  several  of  the  ('on;ir(^' 
j^ationalist  species,  such  as  the  Orthodox,  Baptists,  IMy- 
mouth  Hrcthren  and  Unitarians  came  each  in  for  a  share. 

Trips  to  Florida  wore  now  of  no  permanent  aviiil.  Dis- 
appointment WMs  ujion  him,  and  his  health  failed  in  tlu; 
day  of  trial.  Ili' had  undertaken  a  twenty-live  thousand 
dollar  I'Uterprise  on  Se))teml)er  1st,  ISOJS,  and  had  now  to 
succumh  to  the  crop  proiluced  by  the  seed  sown  l)y  iiis 
own  hand. 

To  his  Assembly,  in  May,  187H,  he  reported  a  church 
niembcrship  of  l,i()<);  to  the  same  court,  in  1S7*>,  he  re- 
ported 1)10,  and  on  September  28th,  bST'.),  h(;  j)reached  to 
them  his  farewell  discourse.  Tact,  even  when  aided  by 
inodirn  inventions,  in  j)rol"essedlv  proclaiminii;  the  ^'ospel, 
•will  not,  without  '' the  doctrine  of' Clod  our  Saviour,"  faith- 
fully preache<l,  bo  owned  l)y  the  Holy  Spirit  in  aj)plyinf; 
"the  redruiption  purchased  by  Christ"  to  immortal  souls. 
In  so  far,  as  he  "  preached  the  word,"  his  nnnistry  was 
blessed  and  successful. 

Of  the  "shady  side"  I  say  nothin;.:;,  and  only  further 
state,  that,  in  ISC*!),  he  en^'ineere*!  a  new  rr<sbytery  into 
oxistcmte.  The  old  historic  one,  Londonderry,  ha vin;.^  ex- 
isted (oir  ami  on)  about  l'i4  years  at  the  above  date,  ho. 
and  those  associated  with  him,  were  pleased  to  have  calleil 
the  I'resbytcry  of  Boston. 

The  Synod  haviufj;  jurisdiction  over  the  Pn'sbytery  to 
w]ii<;h  tlu'  Hev.  Robert  Annan  an<l  the  Federal  Street 
church  belonLM'd  in  IV.So,  had,  on  .luly  11th,  iSol,  consli- 
tutetl  (he  Bo>ton  I'resbytcry.  It.  mi^ht  not  have  he»'n  to 
eclipse  (lie  lirst,  that  the  second  on*'  held  its  stated  meet- 
ings on  the  same  day  of  the  same  month,  which  had  for 
years  been  chosen  l)y  the  other.    "Peradventure,  it  was 


444 


HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


Mi 

Ms 


an  oversight."  How  much  increase  of  spiritual  volume 
and  power,  Prcsbyterianisni  unci  "  the  truth  as  it  is  in 
Jesus,"  received  through  it  in  those  eleven  years  by  liis 
instrumentahty,  1  do  not  profess  to  say.  The  reader,  for 
himself,  can  determine. 

On  June  4th,  1880,  the  Rev.  W.  Brenton  Greene,  Jr.,  was 
ordained  and  installed  as  his  successor.  The  salary  was 
razeed  to  $2,000  per  annum,  and  the  cliurch  (notwith- 
standing the  increase  of  its  debt)  when  vacant  rolled  up 
numbers,  reporting  in  May,  1880,  688  members,  or  an  in- 
crease of  seventy-eight  over  the  last  year  of  the  pastor's 
ministrations. 

While  all  the  Rev.  Mr.  Greene's  antecedents  were  most 
favorable,  and  his  future  is  very  promising,  yet  his  case 
shews  a  lack  of  judgment  but  too  often  witnessed  in  call- 
ing a  pastor. 

Instead  of  (in  this  large  congregation)  selecting  one  who 
from  years  of  previous  study  and  inurement  to  worry, 
could  "endure  hardness,"  the  inexperience  of  youth  was 
chosen  for  the  forefront  of  the  hottest  battle,  and  whether, 
from  the  continued  reaction  of  the  ''  Tabernacle,"  the 
turgid  state  of  the  previous  pastor's  roll  (if  purged)  from 
removals  or  deaths,  notwithstanding  the  admission  of 
thirty-four  on  examination,  and  fifty  by  certificate  (a  fine 
increase)  his  return  to  his  assembly  in  May,  1881,  was 
only  402,  or  286  less  than  at  his  induction.  These  results 
would  there  indicate  the  faithful  preaching  of  "the  truth 
as  it  is  in  Jesus,"  and  not  the  "  prophesying  of  smooth 
things." 

Windham,  N.  H.  On  June  2d,  1868,  the  Rev.  Joseph 
Lanman  was  ordained  over  this  church.  He  was  not  par- 
ticularly successful,  and  the  relation  was  dissolved  on 
February  6th,  1872. 

The  Rev.  Charles  Packard  was  installed  on  April  29th, 
1873,  and  died  on  February  20th,  1881,  leaving  a  widow 
and  three  children.  The  church,  during  its  existence  of 
one  hundred  and  thirty-nine  years,  has  had  eight  pa.stors, 
and  he  was  the  fifth  who  has  died  among  that  people. 

Fifty-three  were  added  to  the  church  during  his  min- 
istry. As  a  pastor  he  was  faithful.  The  four  elders  re- 
turn to  the  Assembly  a  roll  of  lo6. 

In  his  days  of  upward  and  onward  the  Rev.  J.  B.  Dunn 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


445 


volume 
it  is  in 

•s  by  his 
lader,  for 

!,  Jr.,  was 
ilary  was 
(notwith- 
roUed  up 
or  an  in- 
e  pastor's 

were  most 
t  his  case 
ed  in  call- 

ig  one  who 
to  worry, 
youth  was 
i  whether, 
lacle,"   the 
ir<ied)  from 
nission   of 
cate  (a  fine 
,  1881,  was 
'Uese  results 
'  the  truth 
of  smooth 

rev.  Joseph 
kas  not  par- 
Issolved  on 

Lpril  29th, 
liir  a  widow 
Ixistence  of 
Vht  pastors, 
■people, 
^p;  liis  min- 
elders  ro- 

Ij.  B.  Dunn 


had  a  station  opened  in  Lynn,  Mass.  His  ambition  was 
to  "  hive  olF  n  cliurch  every  yc^ar."  The  enterprise  was  not 
successful.  Neither  was  one  of  a  similar  kind  commenced 
in  Januiica  Plains,  where  the  Rev.  Abraham  8.  Gardiner 
preached  for  a  time. 

He,  Rev.  !Mr.  Gardiner,  then  removed  to  Readinj;,  Mass., 
and  preached  some  seven  times  in  1872,  and  in  autumn, 
on  request,  took  char<j;e  of  the  new  enterprise.  At  its  or- 
ganization, the  church  consisted  of  twenty  members. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  Gardiner  was  then  chosen  pastor,  and  in- 
stalled on  May  7th,  1873.  Their  "  society  was  incorpor- 
ated in  June.  An  edifice  was  begun  in  October,  and  it 
was  dedicated  on  February  26th,  1874.  In  August,  1875, 
the  pastor  resigned. 

About  the  ist  of  September,  1875,  Mr.  P.  M.  McDonald 
was  invited  tosujjply  the  pulpit. 

On  September  3d,  1871,  a  j)rayer-meeting  in  the  Gaelic 
language  was  begun  in  the  lecture  hall  of  the  United 
Presbyterian  (.'hurch  in  Boston  by  a  Mr.  Ewen  McDougall, 
assisted  by  others,  which  was  very  beneficial  to  scores  in 
the  city,  who  but  imperfectly  understood  preaching  in 
English. 

This  j)rospered  for  years,  and  as  it  was  the  mother 
tongue  of  Mr.  McDonald,  when  he  came  to  Reading,  he 
took  these  people  under  his  care.  When  he  was  ordained, 
he  was  installed  pastor  of  the  clmrch  in  Reading  and  of 
the  chapel  in  Boston  (nine  miles  apart)  on  June  15th, 
187G.  The  meeting-house  in  Reading  cost  six  thousand 
dollars,  the  lot  and  one  thousand  were  given  by  Mr.  B. 
Boyce,  and  the  pastor,  by  giving  five  hundred  himself,  was 
enabled  by  exertion  to  see  the  whole  amount  paid.  The 
attendance  at  the  chapel  on  Sabbath  evenings  has  in- 
creased yearly,  and  when  the  meeting-house  rented  from 
the  German  Reformed  Church  became  too  small,  they 
removed  in  1881  into  the  church  in  Springfield  street,  for- 
merlv  (for  a  season)  occupied  by  the  congregation  gath- 
ered by  the  Rev.  John  H.  Munroe,  now  pastor  of  the  Cen- 
tral Church,  Philadelphia.  The  pastor  reports  from  Read- 
ing a  membership  of  152. 

End  Boston.  The  Rev.  M.  A.  De  Pew,  who  was  installed 
July  11th,  1807,  resigned,  and  his  resignation  was  accepted 
July  12th,  1869.    The  Rev.  E.  P.  Ackermuu  was  called  on 


)i 


\  i 


446 


HISTORY  OP  PRESBYTERIANISM 


the  same  day,  but  liis  health  so  failed  that  he  could  not 
accept,  nnd  he  left  in  about  two  nioutlis.  On  Janunrv 
I'Jtli,  1S70.  the  Hew  Dr.  James  Kiehnrds  was  called.  He 
was  installed  on  February  J)th,  187(\  and  liis  resiuiiation 
was  acce])tt'd  on  Fel)ruary  .^th,  1872.  After  these  litful 
chanjres,  Divine  Providence  next  sent  to  this  contrre^ation 
the  Rev.  Edward  Annan,  a  faithful  man,  and  much 
blessed  his  ministry.  The  field  was  a  jrood  one,  and  it 
was  well  tilled.  Durinjj;  his  years  of  labor  here  (for  he 
had  been  previously  pastor  of  a  church  in  Ilalifiix,  Nova 
Scotia),  his  health  failed,  and  as  he  saw  his  own  "strength 
weakened  in  the  way,"  to  the  utmost  of  his  al)ility  he 
"censed  not  to  warn  everv  one"  to  be  "readv."  From 
April  2(1,  1872,  he  "occupied"  till  January  lOth,  1878, 
when  in  the  midtirae  of  man's  allotted  days  he  entered  into 
rest. 

Churches  are  directed  to  remember  and  follow  the  faith 
of  those  wlio  liave  spoken  to  them  the  word  of  God,  but 
where  "  an  Athenian  democracy  "  permeates  the  reli<.>;ious 
mind,  this  is  not  easily  done.  Tliis  peo]»le  had  now  to 
look  for  another  pastor,  and  while  hundreds  of  excellent 
men  in  the  denomination  are  "standinjj;  idle  in  the 
market,"  a})i)arently  from  the;  want  of  a  judicious  arran^re- 
ment,  the  sup])ly  and  demand  are  not  properly  at  all 
times  brought  into  contact. 

Hence  even  those  of  another  persuasion  may  stej)  in,  as 
did  Bartlett  in  Newburyi)ort,  and  olttain  the  confidence 
of  a  people.  So  many  who  are  not  })astors  desire  labor, 
that  an  agency  is  kept  in  Boston  to  meet  supply  and  de- 
mand, and  on  an  application  here  the  Rev.  F.  E.  Mars- 
ton,  of  the  State  persuasion,  was  obtained.  He  preached 
"  another  gospel  "  from  Annan,  but  the  children  (it  was 
said)  like(l  him. 

He  obtained  a  call  on  October  1st,  and  was  installed  on 
the  14tii  of  tlint  month  in  1878.  In  May,  1881,  he  reports 
a  roll  of  2()0  n)endjers. 

Spriiiffficltl  Street  church,  Bn-^Om.  As  has  been  stated, 
some  active  men  connected  with  li(;ach  street  congregation 
in  January,  187(\  purciiased  the  Congregational  church  on 
this  street,  tlien  not  occupied. 

In  it,  on  tlie  8d  day  of  February,  1870,  the  third  church 
of  the  Reunited  order  was  organized.     While  they  fully 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


447 


Id  not 

I.     Ho 

>-nati<»u 
(.  litt'ul 
ejjatiou 

miu'h 

j\nd  it 
(for  be 
X,  Nova 
■;tr'-'nsith 
ility  he 
'     From 
h,  1878, 
i>red  into 

the  faith 
God,  but 
relijuous 
d  now  to 
excellent 
!  in  the 
^  arriiniie- 
jly  lit  all 

lte]>  in,  as 
lontidcnce 
lire  labor, 
and  de- 
E.  Mars- 
preached 
n  (it  was 

Italled  on 
]iu  risports 

in  stated, 

lgre;Lr;ation 

church  on 

kl  church 
ley  fuUy 


appreciated  the  activity  of  the  pastor  of  Beach  street,  they 
annod  to  liave  here  pulpit  talent  of  an  hij^h  order,  and 
carryin^j;  forward  their  purpose,  a  merchant  on  business  in 
Brilaiu  went  over  to  Ireland,  and  hearing  tiie  Uev.  John 
H.  Munroe,  on  his  report,  when  returned,  this  congregation 
extended  to  liim  a  call  to  their  pastorate. 

This  he  accepted,  and  while  he  brought  to  the  position 
unexceptionable  fitness,  it  was  at  an  early  day  discovered 
that  there  Avas  too  little  suitable  material  in  his  Held  of 
labor,  and  the  future  there  was  not  bright  with  inducements 
for  him  to  remain  in  Boston.  After  making  "  lull  proof  of 
his  ministry  "  there  for  sixteen  months,  he  accepted  a  call 
in  Philadelphia. 

This  congregation  had  also  the  services  of  the  Bev.  Dr. 
Wm.  A.  McCorkle  for  some  time,  and  did  not  expire  from 
the  want  of  talent  in  the  pulpit,  but  from  the  mental  and 
social  nature  of  its  surroundings,  connected  with  the  fact 
that  but  a  few  of  the  hearers  could  apj)reeiate  the  talent 
which  they  enjoyed  in  the  house  of  prayer.  It  was  at  best 
a  redundancy. 

South  Boston.  After  the  failure  of  Claybaugh  in  this 
ward,  the  Bev.  John  l^rash  lal)ored  in  it  for  u  season,  and 
when  he  left  J*resbytery  appointed  the  Bev.  George  Clark 
(pastor  of  P]ast  Boston )  as  moderator  of  session.  He  was 
informed  by  a  man  of  promise,  who  became  a  failure,  that 
if  the  United  Presbyterians  placed  another  man  tiiere,  he 
would  hire  a  hall  and  establish  an  opposition.  The  men 
employed  as  above  became  extensively  assimilated  to 
their  surroundings,  and  the  field  was  dropped. 

As  there  were  not  a  few  Presbyterians  resident  in  that 
part  of  the  city  who  found  it  inconvenient  to  attend  any 
of  the  churches  in  the  city  proper,  a  hall  was  hired,  anil 
the  Bev.  L.  H.  Angier  labored  tor  years  as  supply. 

•After  the  churcli  was  organized,  they  extended  a  call  to 
the  Bev.  Dr.  ^^'m.  M.  Baker,  who  labored  among  them 
some  years.  His  subsistence  was  not  superabundant 
among  them,  and  eventually  separation  came.  They  also 
undertook  the  enterprise  of  building  a  place  of  worsliip,  in 
which  they  ought  to  have  been  liberally  aided  by  their  de- 
nomination, but  it  was  not  so.  Having  a  few  men  of  busi- 
ness and  of  substance,  they  obtained  as  pastor  the  Bev, 
Wm.  H.  Sybrandt,  who  for  years  has  occuj)ied  faithfully, 
and  returns  a  roll  of  112  members  in  May,  1881. 


448 


HISTORY   OP   PRESBYTERIANISM 


Beside  tho  Enplish-sponkinp;  people,  occasionally  Ger- 
mans are  collcctcHl  into  Pnshytcriaii  oliurclics.  One  of 
this  nationality  has  lor  rears  existed  in  Lawrence,  Massa- 
chusetts,  and  in  May,  18S1,  tlieir  ])ast()r,  the  Rev.  Auu\islus 
II.  Ilager,  presents  a  roll  ol"  127  niemhers,  having  during 
the  year  1880  had  an  increase  of  llfleen. 

In  Lowell  Presbyterianisni  has  had  vicissitudes.  After 
the  false  pretenses  of  the  Rev.  John  Robertson  in  18G8,  tho 
Rev.  Soltau  F.  Calhoun  supi)lied  the  station  here  for  some 
time  in  1870-72.  But  his  services  were  not  acceptable  to 
all  his  hearers. 

They  were  more  fortunate  with  his  successor,  the  Rev. 
Robert  Court.  They  years  ago  purchased  a  place  of  wor- 
ship, and  as  there  is  no  other  Presbyterian  church  in  the 
city,  they  are  prosperous.  He  returns  a  roll  of  170  mem- 
bers, with  an  increase  of  twenty-six  in  1880, 

In  Providence,  R.  1.  As  wo  have  seen  in  the  last  quarter 
of  a  century— 1843-18()8— the  "  Old  School  i)arty  "  occu- 
pied for  years.  Since  the  reunion  they  have  advanced — 
have  built  a  church,  and  have  had  ministerial  labor.  Tho 
Gothic  contagion,  so  prevalent  in  New  England,  of  build- 
ing God  and  his  people  out  of  doors,  they  have  not  es- 
caped. The  beam  out  of  the  wall  or  timber  cries,  "Debt, 
debt.     Pay  what  thou  owest." 

To  them  the  Rev.  J.  Dickson  came  and  became  initiated 
fully  in  the  labor  and  worry  incident  to  the  work  of  a 
Presbyterian  clergyman  in  New  England.  A  few  years  of 
such  a  peculiar  position  were  enough. 

After  his  de|)arture,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Parry  served  them 
in  the  gospel  lor  some  years. 

Not  only  the  fluctuating  character  of  the  Presbyterian 
population  in  this,  as  in  other  cities  in  New  England,  im- 

f)eded  progress  in  the  work  of  the  kingdom,  but,  it  is  be- 
ieved,  that  of  those  indebtetl  to  th(jse  Ibrces  which  unit^' 
the  Scotch  in  Scotland,  viz.,  the  Psalms  and  Shorter  Cate- 
chism, not  a  few  have  changed  tlieir  colors  and  enlisted 
under  other  banners.  Social  life  has  its  Ibrces  as  well  as 
the  gospel. 

The  Rev.  George  W.  Morrill  has  not  yet  had  oppor- 
tunity to  there  "  make  full  proof  of  liis  ministry."  Thw; 
elders  return  from  this  vacancy  a  roll  of  150  members  in 
1881. 


IN    NEW    KNfiLAND. 


449 


ly  Gcr- 
Onc  of 
,  M;iss:i- 
n  i:\isUis 
5  durini:; 

;.  After 
l8G8,tho 
for  some 
)table  to 

the  Rev. 
e  of  wor- 
-h  in  the 
70  mem- 


st  quarter 
tv  "  occu- 
Ivanced — 
bor.  The 
of  builcl- 
ve  not  OS- 
es, "  Debt, 

e  initiated 
work  of  a 
,v  years  of 

Irved  them 

icj^nyterian 
[land,  iiu- 
;t,  it  is  be- 
iiieh  unil^' 
)rtcr  Cate- 
Id  enlisted 
as  well  as 

lad  oppor- 
Iry."  Tho 
Umbers  in 


New  nostim,  X.  H.—At  this  date,  1SG8-1S81,  the  Rev. 
Frank  II.  Allen  is  i)astor,  and  returns  a  roll  of  137  mem- 
bers. 

Bed  ford,  i\.  II. — Vacant;  in  May,  1881,  the  nine  ciders 
return  a  roll  of  141. 

From  Soidh  Ri/ec/nle,  Vt. — Vacant;  the  six  elders  return 
a  roll  of  107. 

Litchfield  has  one  elder  who  returns  a  roll  of  16,  and  re- 
ports two  adult  baptisms  during  the  last  year.  Hy  tho 
generosity  of  some  jx-rson  they  have  an  annuity,  and  can 
obtain  supplies  for  a  part  of  the  time. 

Total  mi'mbcrs  rej^orted  by  Presbytery  of  Boston,  in 
Mav,  1881,  2,()87.  Total  in  the  seven  churches  reported 
in  ('onnecticut  in  18h],  1,127.     Total,  3,814. 

C()ui)(rti<-itt. — As  we  have  seen,  "  three  of  the  congrega- 
tions, formed  more  recently  in  this  State,  have  ceased  to 
exist,  and  a  fourth  has  joined  another  ecclesiastical  hody." 
Yet,  in  entering  on  this  (juarter  of  a  century  we  have  en- 
couraging (Continuations. 

As  successor  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Adams  in  Thoinp.^onville, 
the  Rev.  Henry  Ward  liCe  was  installed  on  July  13th, 
18()9.  Nothing  unusual  marked  his  incumbency,  and  he 
Avas  dismissed  on  December  20th,  1873. 

During  these  short  vacancies  no  stated  supply  was  en- 
gaged ;  they  were  filled  w<?ekly,  and  on  July  20th,  1874, 
the  K<v.  Frederic  Shepard  Barnurji  was  installed.  Al- 
though Popery  has  control  over  a  large  percentage  of  the 
])opulation,  and  other  denominations  have  societies  in  the 
vilhige,  yet  the  working  force  in  this  church  is  ellicient, 
for  tiiey  had,  in  1881,  a  membership  of  244. 

Of  tlie  Presbyterian  church  in  ILirtford  we  have  seen 
the  history  for  seventeen  years.  They  now  (1808)  occupy 
a  chapel  at  the  cost  of  sS17,0(M). 

lietween  July  12th,  1809,  and  May  17th,  1870,  they 
erected,  in  so  far,  an  edifice,  leaving  the  tower  unfinished. 
"The  building  is  of  Connecticut  granite,  with  trimmings 
of  Ohio  and  Portland  stone,  and  in  an  area  of  above  7,0<)0 
sipiare  feet  (or  123  by  57  feet),  the  audience  room  will 
seat  about  ()00  people.  With  an  organ  at  S2,800,  the  total 
cost  of  the  lot  and  buildings  (so  far  as  finished)  was,  when 
opened,  $07,948.02  "  (or  ahout  S113  for  each  sitting).  That 
perpetual  motion,  "  the  prince  of  the  power  of  tlie  air," 
29 


« ; 


i 


450 


HISTOUV   OF   PUESBYTERIANISM 


while  they  were  occupying;  "a  plain,  comfortable  brick 
building,  cu))able  ot"  scatin^f  some  7o()  ])e()pU',  and  well 
adajitcd  to  the^ wants  of  the  conj^rciiation,"  perhaps  had 
nothing  to  do  with  tliis  enterprise,  of  changing  it  for  a 
seating  capacity  of  about  GOO. 

Here  pride  di<l  not  "  come  l)ofore  d(>struetion,"  but  before 
trouble.  "  Contentir)n  (was  now)  meddled  with."  Tlie 
courts,  ecclesiastical  and  civil,  were  invoked.  The  "Athen- 
ian democracy  was  in  the  mould  of  the  society  "  by  i)ow 
patronage. 

The  i)astor,  being  a  I'ennsylvanian,  supposed  that  the 
property  of  a  I'resbyterian  congregation  should  (as  is  the 
case  geniM-aliy  out  of  New  England)  be  under  the  control 
of  the  church  ;  but  trustees,  appointed  by  its  members,  in 
an  organized  capacity,  the  State  di<l  not  here  recognize. 

The  pew  jiarish  (or  society)  and  its  api)ointees,  not  trus- 
tees or  dea(H)ns,  'losen  by  the  elders  and  other  memi)ers 
of  a  church,  musi  shut  or  ojkmi  "the  doors  of  the  house  of 
God."  'I'he  pastor,  in  connnun  witii  other  l*resl>vterians, 
profoundly  ignorant  of  the  fact,  had  to  "come  to  the 
Knowledge  of  the  truth  "  in  this  bitter  way,  in  which  not 
less  tiian  "seven  suits  have  bt-en  instituted,"  and,  "in 
March,  1S77,  the  trustees  were  sustained  by  mandamus." 
It  is  not  easy  to  estimate  the  loss  suffered  by  "  ])ure  and 
vmdefiled  religion  "  through  these  unfortunate  proceedings 
by  which  Preshyterianism  has  h(>re  l)een  "wounded  in 
the  house  of  her  iViends."  Still,  the  ]>astor  continues,  the 
church  increases,  and  in  18(S1  he  re[)orts  a  roll  of  280 
members. 

In  Stamford,  New  Scliool,  the  Rev.  Alexander  S.  Twom- 
bly,  on  Ai)ril  oOth,  18()S,  entered  as  i)astor,  and  continued 
in  office  till  May  1st,  1872,  followed  by  the  Rev.  Evert  van 
Slyke,  April  28d,  1873,  who  ofliciated  till  October  (Uh, 
1875.  The  j)resent  pastor.  Rev.  Richard  P.  H.  Vail,  was 
installed  on  May  11th,  1876,  and  to  his  assembly,  in  1881, 
rej)orted  a  membership  of  297. 

In  Bruh/cport,  Old  School,  the  Rev.  TTorace  S.  Hinsdale 
resigned  his  charge  on  October  4th,  1877.  His  successor, 
the  Rev.  Henry  A.  Davenjjort,  was  installed  February  14th, 
1878.  In  1881,  to  the  Assembly,  he  reported  a  membcr- 
Bhip  of  198. 

In  Darien,  New  School,  the  pastor,  the  Rev.  James  W. 


IN    NEW  ENGLAND. 


451 


hrick 
1  well 
)S  hinl 
,  for  a 

before 
'  The 
Athcn- 
)y  pow 

lilt  the 
8  is  the 
control 
hers,  in 
nizc. 
ot  trus- 
iciuhors 
ousi'  of 
ti'rians, 
to  the 
lich  not 
ill 

>5 


nd, 
hunus 


I 


ure  ant 
M.nlin^s 
ided  in 

IK'S,  the 
of  280 

Twom- 
ntinuod 
crt  van 
ler  (Uh, 
ail,  was 
n  1881, 


nis( 


lal 


•cessor, 
■y  14th, 
I'ombcr- 


nes 


W. 


Coleman,  installed  March  Ith,  1804,  rcsijincd  his  pastorate 
January  4th,  1874.  Ah'inhcrshii),  in  1881,  40.  On  July 
7th,  18S1,  the  Rev.  K.  V.  (K'avcland  was  ordained  and  in- 
8talled  ])astor,  llujiucniii  Memorial  church,  87. 

Tlic  First  Presbyterian  church  of  AV;r  Ilnmi  was  organ- 
ized by  the  Presbytery  of  W'er^tchester,  March  11th,  1873. 
This  year  began  a  vast  financial  end)arrassnuMit,  and  it 
became  necessary  on  this  account  to  abandon  the  ent(?r- 

i»ris(\     By  the  same  court  the  church  was  dissolved  on 
anuary  PJth,  1875. 

At  Greenwich,  Fairfield  county,  thirty-two  persons  with- 
drew from  the  Second  Congregational  Society  of  the  town, 
and  they  were,  on  A])ril  'iGth,  1881,  by  the  Presbytery  of 
Westchester,  organiz-ed  as  a  church.  They  have  since 
elected  the  Rev.  Rollin  A,  Sawyer,  D.  D.,  as  their  pastor. 
Membership,  May,  1881,  31. 

1868-1881— U.  P.  Church  of  Boston— Hopes  diminishing;— liiiild  or 
abandon — Two  other  branches — Want  of  sucoi-w — New  poetry  ad- 
vised— The  cure — Any  eouhl  find  their  position — Inducements  to 
abandon  were  realities — Hindrances — The  flock — Resolved  (  D.  V.) 
to  buihl — Lot — C'hurcli  and  two  dwellings  erected — Favorable  inter- 
positions— Trustees  of  the  Assembly — Reincorporated — Powers — C'on- 
grcfjation  prospered — Interest  and  debt —1873,  commercial  dei)ression 
— (jhurches  pray — Lindell  and  the  organ — "Musical  pioneer" — In- 
crease of  i'opery  in  Hoston — The  organ-loft  divides — Jsot  satisfactory 
— Moody — His  tabernacle — His  services — A  religions  lady's  view  of 
Sankey — An  unsettling  tendency — Moody's  "talk  " — Newman  Hall's 
estimate  of  Moody's  results — Seed  sown  in  four  phices — Kesidls — Two 
days'  attendance  in  orthodox  churches — No  supposed  aids  wanting — 
The  ]>ioneer  Presbyterian  church  siiflered — Yet  it  stood  the  shock — 
Doctrine  tauglit — Versions — Garnering — No  surplus  veneration — Our 
debt — Its  consequences — Some  had  no  sympathy — A  goodly  price — 
This  tried  people — Trustees  and  Boards  to  report  in  1880 — Their 
plans  and  report — Pastor  must  go  and  pay  debts — Or  the  sale  miglit 
become  a  fact — Double  toil — An  optimist — The  congregation  aston- 
ished— None  asked  him  to  resign — Did  so  .June  29th — Licensed  June 
28th,  1830 — Progressives  now  to  adopt  new  methods — Congregation 
had  been  prospering — Force  spent — Never  disabled  for  dutv — He 
must  now  stop — Relation  dissolved — Not  to  disturb  he  removed — His 
course  of  jiastoral  life  unusual — Nothing  popular — Only  the  riches  of 
Christ  and  the  word  of  God — This  the  Spirit  honors — At  the  end  of 
thirty-four  years  he  leaves  one  priest  and  two  Unitarian  doctors  in 
Boston  who  were  there  before  him — He  must  go,  for  the  increase  was 
less  than  some  other  years — This  not  so — His  disadvantages — Hia 
success — Boasting  excluded — Divine  appointment  reigns — Rev.  John 
Hood — Installed — Thompsonvilk — ^A  pastor  settled— Set  off  by  Synod 


452 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


to  New  York  Prosbvfcry — Eust  EnMnn — Rev.  G.  M.  Clarko — Trouble 
came — lit-  sowod  si-tds  of  discord — The  eliiirch  roll  —  Kast  Boston  and 
Ilartlonl  dissolved  liy  I'rcsltvtery  in  IST.'J — I'rnvide.nre ~  \{k'\ .  J.  P. 
Kohl)— Released — Mr.  M.S.  McCord  called — Ordained  ami  installed — 
An  iiitilliu;ent  |K'o|>le — He  makes  t'ldl  pniol— Roll — Juill  Jliirr — Rev. 
J.  R.  Kyle— Had  for  a  lime  competition — .Vn  Asyin:n — Rev.  J.  IF. 
Tiirnhull — Installed — Roll  increased  -  I rMt;/*//ir///f' —Rev.  P.  Y. 
Smith — ContinueH  jtastor — His  ndl — H7ii'<///,sr///c— Rev.  K.  Hark- 
ness — The  people  not  peaceable — He  left — The  chiir(!h  dissolved — 
Reorganized — Mr.  James  L.  Thompson  called,  ordained  and  in> 
Rtalled — The  church  prospering — His  roll — Lmvrenc.e — Rev.  John 
Hogg — Successful — !u  harmony  with  the  "dissenters"  of  1807,  in 
tlie  McCune  case — McCune's  changes — Tried  by  church  courts — 
Leaves  I'resbyterianism — Reoomcs  ortlio.lox  in  'J'exas — As  "acting 
pastor'' — "Dissenters" — Who  sympathized  with  Mc(June — In  some 
views — Overtures — On  the  psalms — To  pave  the  way  for  orijans — 
Tunes  prepared — Children  "clamour  for  sprightly  music" — Accom- 
modated—  With  fragmerUs  called  *'  Hible  Songs" — Actions  and  opin- 
ions— "A  very  serious  ern)r" — The  demand  met — Overture  to  i)ave 
the  way  for  organs — Mr.  Hogg  insubordinate — Mr.  A.  (}.  McCoy's 
view  of  the  church — Rev.  John  A.  Rums  faithful — \)t,  McAyeal — 
His  view  of  versions — His  roll — If4)aiiiH  were  taken — The  ol.l  version 
wonid  be  most  eilective — Presbi/'ery  of  Vermont — linnid — Rev.  John 
Seivice  pastor— Vacant — Rev.  R.  S'.  Hammoml — Installed — Con- 
tinues— Roll — HijejaU' — Rev.  A.Y.  Houston  pastor  till  l.ST-j — Rev.  J. 
R.  Clapperton  installed — Release*! — His  roll — (ireensboro — Va  ant 
long — Rev.  A.  S.  Stewart  installed — His  resignation — N'acaiit — Roll 
— To  complete  we  rerpiire  information — None  would  then  be  uniio 
ticed — A  supposition — The  whole  mendtership  and  adherents — Others 
careless — Thousands  with  other  persuasions — Men  of  Israel  help — 
Who  will  care  for  their  souls? 


Boston. — As  the  United  Prcsl)yterian  congregation  of 
Boston  entered  on  this  (luarter  of  a  century  they  found 
their  hope  of  recovering  their  property  diminishing,  and 
the  alternative  was  presented,  build  an  house  for  public 
worship,  or  abandon  the  field. 

They  had,  in  twenty-two  years,  entered  their  seventh 
hired  hall  and  paid  nearly  ten  thousand  dollars  for  rent. 

It  is  doubtful  if  any  other  congregation  in  the  city  would 
have  shewn  equal  steadfastness  to  principle  under  so  many 
disadvantages  and  discoiu'agements.  Two  other  branches 
of  the  Presbyterian  family  were  now  competing  in  the 
field,  and  in  two  divisions  (in  East  and  Soutii  Boston )  they 
had  had  more  than  one  experiment  of  their  own  "  })rogres- 
sive"  element  in  the  U.  P.  Church,  and  their  want  of  suc- 
cess, just  as  they  became  assimilated  to  their  surround- 
ings, in  doctrine  and  worship. 


IN  NEW   ENGLAND. 


453 


Pastor  anfl  pooplo  wove  continually  urpod  (o  bccomo 
mow  popular;  it'  not  to  ohtaiu  an  ortMU,  at  least  to  adopt 
iu)\v  po(>try  to  please  the  tloatin^r  poi>ulation;  to  renienilirr 
that  "the  days  ot"  the  catechism"  and  the  psalms  were 
])aHt;  to  say  nothing  ajrainst  any  error,  or  corrupt  system, 
at  the  risk  of  heinj;  hranded  as  hiiiots.  The  cure  lor  all 
this,  however,  was  to  teach  the  jjeople  "the  first  principles 
of  the  oracles  of  God,"  and  to  shew,  that  we  had  not  "ap- 
])ointed  any  new  tiling  contrary  to  what  hv  had  com- 
manded;" in  short,  to  keep  pure  and  entire  all  such  "reli- 
gious worship  and  ordinances  as  (Jod  has  aj)pointed  in  his 
■word."  Conse(juently,  if  any  were  dissatisfied  they  could 
find  their  ])osilion  in  one  of  the  varied  fields  of  do<;ma, 
lyinjj;  hetween  "sonnil  doctrine  "  and  the  opinions  of  the 
advocates  of  "advanced  thou<j;ht." 

Still,  tlu;  inducements  to  abandon  the  field  were  reali- 
ties. The  fluctuating  character  of  the  pe(»])le  especially, 
•who  in  manv  cases  onlv  remained  Ioiil'  »  nouuh  to  ]tro(!ure 

*  ^  '  ■  I 

the  means  to  carry  them  elsewhere,  av;;s  iiiily  discourag- 
ing. In  this  way  there  can  be  traced  into  sixteiMi  States 
of  the  Union,  the  different  Provinces  of  Canada,  to  Aus- 
tralia, to  Mexico,  to  St.  John's,  Antigua,  Id  Ireland,  to 
London,  to  Berwick  upon  Tweed,  to  (ilasgow,  to  Paisley, 
to  Perth  and  elsewhere,  individuals,  who  for  a  season  wor- 
ship{)ed  with  us;  while  others,  indebted  to  Presbyterian 
training  for  their  moral  character,  the  basis  of  their  use- 
fulness and  material  prosperity,  when  they  became  no- 
ticed for  their  ]>ossessions,  were  in  some  cases  induced  to 
])lace  themselves  with  the  more  rich  and  gay.  Where 
such  persons  were  ])arents,  their  daughters  readily  "  went 
out  to  see  the  daughters  of  the  land,"  and  their  sons  easily 
"pleased  themselves  with  the  children  of  strangers,"  in- 
stead of  seeking  "the  ])lighted  partners  of  their  future 
lives  "  among  tlunr  own  persuasion. 

Among  the  hindrances  to  "  the  work  of  the  ministry  " 
here,  as  elsewhere,  mixed  marriages  were  not  the  least. 
In  all  such  cases,  as  a  rule,  it  is  believed  that  ])roper 
])arental  training  "  gains  much  harm  and  loss."  At  times 
the  children,  for  whom,  before  God,  angels  and  men, 
parents,  by  vows,  acknowledged  their  responsibility  at 
"the  judgment-.seat  of  Christ,"  were  allured  by  some  other 
denomination. 


i^'i 


454 


HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


Other  inducomonta  to  almndon  the  field  wore  not  want- 
ing:, but  "thf  ilock"  licloti^fcd  to  tin'  Master,  and  }dlh(ni;:li 
neither  rieli,  nor  numerous,  they  wen-  not  only  vahi:il>lo 
as  the  j)rotessed  iolk)\vers  of  the  Saviour,  hut  tliey  lorined 
a  nuekius  lor  future  leHowshij)  Tor  those  who  might,  like 
many  of  themselves,  yet  eome  to  the  city. 

Hero  we  were  met  l)V  tlie  faet,  that  it  was  liopelesa  for 
those  tiien  and  there  in  fellowship  to  attempt  the  enter- 
prise alone.  Still,  we  resolved  {!).  V.)  to  ask  aid  and  to 
buihl. 

On  September  1st,  18G8,  an  elijrihlo  site  was  ])ou;j;ht,  and 
in  due  time  a  building,  ineluding  two  dwellings,  was 
erected.  The  house,  with  a  seating  capacity  for  five  hun- 
dred, was  opened  lor  jtublic  worsliij)  on  February  (Jth, 
187U,  and  although  under  debt,  the  church  jirospered  so 
far  as  it  was  j)ossible,  when  the  pastor  had  very  often  to 
go  abroad  to  seek  aid,  while  he  ought  to  have  been  "  in- 
tsUmt  in  season  and  out  of  season  "  in  his  Master's  work  at 
home. 

Many  were  the  favorable  interpositions  of  Divine  Provi- 
dence seen  in  completing  the  enterprise,  and  a  Hording  to 
the  congregation  a  quiet  resting  ])lace  on  Sabbath.  While, 
under  the  ruling  of  Chief-Justice  Shaw,  trustees  chosen  by 
a  Presbyterian  congregation  were  incai)ai)le  of  holding 
and  enjoying  estate  for  their  denominational  use  in  Massa- 
chusetts, the  only  safe  course  was  to  invoke  the  official 
service  of  the  trustees  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
United  Presbyterian  Church  of  North  America.  This  aid 
the  Board  (afraid  of  "inconvenience")  at  first  refused  to 
give,  but,  after  explanation,  in  them,  as  a  body  incorpo- 
rated by  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania,  the  title  vested ; 
and  when  it  was  discovered  that  their  agency,  as  a  foreign 
cor])oration,  was  inoperative,  on  proper  application  being 
made  by  the  pastor,  said  board  were  re-incorporated  by 
the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts,  and  authorized  to 
hold,  for  religious  use,  in  the  State,  property  to  the  amount 
of  three;  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  congregation  con- 
tinued to  prosper.  The  Sabbath-.sehool,  though  not  large, 
was  viewed  as  an  aid,  and  but  on  one  occasion  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  church  was  there  acomnuniion  season  observed 
without  some  increase.  Order  was  maintained  and  disci- 
pline was  but  seldom  demanded. 


IN    NEW   KNfiLAND. 


455 


Itiou  fon- 


To  moot  tlio  intorost  and  roduro  tlic  dcltt  ro(Hiiro(l  vl;jil- 
aiu'f.  ConscMiiicnlly,  when  the  coniiiM-rcial  dcpri'ssioii  of 
1878  ocournMl,  the  cou^n'^^ation  brcainc  uiicfiiial  to  tlio 
burden,  and  had  to  obtain  incToased  assihtanco  iVoni  tho 
Assi-ndtly. 

At  this  time  the  "cliurclics  of  Jesus  Clnist,"  in  tlje  city 
and  the  country,  all  but  those  which  sunj;  psahns,  wero 
"rejoicing;  at  the  sound  of  the  or^^ui,"  and  one  of  tlio 
"craftsmen"  desired  us  to  ))urehase.  As  history  should 
be  impartial,  1  here  j)i'esent  a  vindication,  by  one  of  those 
most  familiar  with  the  manner  in  wiiich  instrumei»tal 
ent<'rtMinm('nts  j»romote  the  },dorv  of  (Jod  in  the  salvation 
of  lost  sinners,  and  if  any  other  lover  of  "things  without 
lift'-ji;ivin^  sound  "  con  j)roduee  more  cogent  arguments  for 
their  ado})tion  and  use,  let  him  do  so. 

"  Boston,  Ihxember  23(/,  187:1. 

"  Di^AU  Siu  : — Being  special  agent  in  getting  uj)  liartlett 
and  llorsford  s  (.'hoir  Directory,  your  reply  to  their  rcfjuest 
was  handed  to  me  on  last  Sunday,  in  which  I  read  somo 
curii>us  objections  to  the  use  of  the  organ  in  the  house  of 
worship,  and  if  not  oflensive,  I  would  wish  to  advance  my 
opinion  regarding  your  objections.  Knowing  scarce  any- 
thing of  the  doctrine  of  Presbyterianism,  save  a  little  in- 
sight of  the  history  of  its  origin  and  founder,  I  shall  take 
UJ)  my  ])oints  from  your  own  statements,  viz.,  that  you 
ado|)t  the  Kii)le  alone  as  authority  in  matters  of  faith. 

"This  [  judge  from  the  fact  that  you  abrogate  the  use  of 
organs  because  it  is  not  mentioned  in  the  Jiible.  How, 
then,  do  you  digest  thirtieth  verse,  chapter  twentieth,  and 
twenty-fifth  verse,  chapter  twenty-lirst  of  St.  John?  Here 
we  are  told  that  Jesus  did  many  other  things,  which  if 
written  all,  the  world  could  not  contain  the  books. 

"  Who  in  your  church,  with  a  faculty  for  apjirei'iating  the 
sublimity  of  God,  with  only  ordinary  musical  taste  will 
not  say  on  hearing  the  beautiful  strains  of  the  church  or- 
gan, '  it  is  heavenly?  '     Hence  its  sacred  intlucnce. 

"  In  2  Chron.  verses  12th  and  loth,  we  are  told  the  Levites 
bad  lifted  up  their  voices  with  trumpets  and  cymbals 
and  instruments  nJ'itniHic  to  the  praise  of  the  Lord. 

"The  harp  is  mentioned  in  1  C.'hron.  xxv.  30,  and  has 
been  seen  in  mortal  visions  of  heaven.    Rev.  v.  8.    That 


450 


IIISTOUV   OF    PUKsnYTlCKIANrSM 


■i?  ' 


jil: 

I'll 


'the  Jow^  will  not  liiro  ;i  ninn  to  do  scculnr  work  on  tlm 
Salihiitli  (l;iy  '  niiiy  \h\  true,  :is  is  also  that  tlicv  jxTscciilcd 
lit  to  slav  .Icsus  hccausc  lie  had  cured  tiir  man  ol" 


and  SOU'' 


II 


thirty  years'  '  inlirinity  '  on  the  Sal>ltatli  <l;iy.  It  was  al.> 
in  this  (lay  that  .lesns  went  out  with  his  apoi^tlcs  into  tin; 
(•<»rn-liel<l  to  pluck  corn,  which  elicited  their  indi;:naliuii, 
followed  hy  a  reproof  from  him  for  their  hlindness  con<'ern- 
in;,' the  day.  If  Calvin  and  Knox  instituted  as  strict  ohserv- 
ance  of  the  F-ord's  day  as  this  doctiine  of  no  instrtunmt.d 
music,  fitly  may  the  words  ofthe  Snn  (it"(l«)d  apply  to  tin  in, 
'  Kn»)W  ye  that  the  Sahhalh  was  made  for  man,  not  man 
for  th(!  Sahhath.'  It  in  a  day  for  -food  works.  Ih  it  not 
good  to  assist  in  protlucin;!  that  music  which  inspires  the 
houls  of  the  faithful  with  ( 'hiistian  foititude,  as  the  martial 
Htraiiis  of  a  national  anthem  on  the  hattle-lield  ur;ics  tla; 
tioldier  to  victory  ?  There  n-mains  still  the  most  serious 
moral   ohjection    in   voiir  eves,  its  concomitance  with   tlu; 


lu'ad 


s  ami  liolv  w 


liter  of  the  Ijoiiiish  church,     'riicse  out- 


ward forms  of  catli(»licity  appear  very  ridicrulous  to  us 
sceptics,  stoics  and  cynics,  hut  .s«  also  mi^^ht  it  appear  in 
the  present  a}Z<>  of  the  progress  of  civilization,  it"  .h'siis 
Christ  ajipearcd  to-day  in  our  midst  and  he.ded  the 
Itlindness  of  our  8oul  hy  ointment  made  from  his  spittle 
and  tin?  dust  of  the  earth.  I'erhaps  in  a  crisis  of  saitl 
'  progress,'  tlu^  ap|ilicatinn  of  the  water  of  tin;  river  .lor- 
tl.in  may  Ik;  teriiic(|  or  deemed  an  ahsurdity.  Coniiieua- 
tioiialists  do  not  hase  their  l»eJief  on  anta,;:onism  to  tho 
Catholic  l'ap;il  church,  hut  re^rard  them  as  fellow-laliorers 


in  the  vinevard  i  hear  Kev.  .Mr.  \\'ri'_dit's  vi( 


ws, 


H 


elUi 


l.'V 


gtreet),  and  in  jud^iii'^  for  themselves,  rejitice  in  every  (on- 
formity  with  that  church  to  which  you  ow(!  the  hist(»iy 
and  preservation  of  Christianity  l"njm  it."  origin  to  the  six- 
teenth cenlurv. 


W'ry  respectfully, 


W.  M.   IJNDJCI.I, 


Having  thus  for  the  instruction  of  the  reader  presenu  d 
the  "opinion"  rr  aitlmlni  of  this  "s|)ecial  ag(  nt  in 
getting  up  <'hoir  directori<'S."  it  may  not  lie  amiss  \r,  let  the 


M 


U/iini 


I    I 


lititt'or   ( 


.\.   V.i   t 


or 


line 


IH 


>•>. 


le.'ik    oil    the 


liomage  paid  to  "  the  suhlimity  •>!'  ( itid  "  hy  "extraordinary 
inusi(!al  taste." 

A  moru  correct  judgment  can  bo    tiien  fornieil  of  tho 


IN    NEW    ENGLAND. 


457 


"  lio.'ivonly  oliar.'ictor  "  ami  "HJifnid  influrnco  "  of  tlic  or^'an 
in  "  tuniiiij,'  incn  from  <laikncs.s  l->  li^l't,  and  IVom  tin*  powrr 
of  Satan  unto  ( iod.'' 

"In  the  roiuitrv  clinrclics,  where  the  inemhers  of  the 
i'hdir  an-  usnally  ni(iul»ers  nf  the  etm^re^ation,  it  is  a  laii- 
thin^  lor  any  of  the  sinj^ers  to  leavo  hefor«'  th»?  service  is 
over;  hut  anioni.'  the  sin^'ers  in  city  ehnrehes— in  tho 
fashionahh'  well-paid  (|uartette— it  is  a  fre(|nent  praetiee." 

"■  In  Mpiseojial  ehnrehes  partienlarly,  where,  in  tin-  nn)rn- 
in;;  service  no  hymn  is  snnu  after  tho  sermon,  it  is  almost  the 
rnle  for  the  choir  ti>  sneaU  otit,  on<;  after  another,  as  soon 
as  the  text  is  <j^iven  t>nt.  The  sopranc*  will  first  j^ather  np 
her  skirts,  perhaps  hend  her  head  a  little,  so  as  to  avoid 
the  notice  of  the  coni:re<:ati(!n,  and  step  jfin;;erly  out  ttt'  ilir 
(iri/nn  /f;/y,  not  uidVetjuently,  however,  sweepini;  down  ;•  lew 
liooks  or  n|»setlini:  a  chair,  in  spite  of  all  her  care.  The 
basso,  liavinL";  no  skirls  to  impede  his  pro^'ress,  darts  (»nt  a 
few  njiimtes  after.  The  alto  and  tenor  follow,  uidess.  in- 
dee<l,  tin  y  prefer  to  remain  and  hav«,' a  <iuiet  litth' llirlation 
ioLM'ther  dnrim:  sermon  time.  The  or;^'anist,  havin;z  to  play 
the  conelndin^f  voluntary  '  >iow  the  |)ostlnd«!),  ^M'oans  in- 
wardly hecausi'  he  is  thus  deharred  the  privih'jre  of  lliLdit. 
And  how  seldom  is  it,  even  dnrinir  the  time  that  they  are 
in  the  house  of  prayer,  that  tliese  sin^^n-rs  |)ay  the  least  at- 
tention to  tile  service  !  From  friv(»h»ns  ;j:ossip,  from  piipiant 
and  amusiiiL',  and  often  unkind  criticisms  of  other  sinj.'ers, 
or  of  each  other,  they  jum|)  n|»,  s(aillle  round  to  lind  their 
|)laccs  in  their  liooks,  and,  without  thinkiii;^  lor  a  moment 
of  the  holy  words  they  an;  to  use,  join  in  ascriptions  of 
praise,  which,  under  tlu;  circumstances,  are  really  simple 
mockery.  *  We  praise  thee,  ()  (Jod;  we  acknowledj^e  tlico 
to  i>e  the  Lord  '  thev  siiijn  with  meanin;f|ess  disre^'ard  of 
the  import  i»f  tliose  iiohle  phrases.  *  They  praise  him  with 
their  lips,  hut  their  heart  is  far  from  him.'  Kroin  meru 
thoiiLihll'Ssness,  Sal.'iiath  after  Sahhath,  they  hreak  that 
eoiiimaialmeitt  which  says, '  Thou  shalt  not  tak(!  th('  name 
of  the  Loril  thy  (iod  in  vain.'  They  forjret  that  the  Lord 
will  not  hold  tiiem  <;uiltless  that  take  his  name  in  vain,  and 
for  all  this  •  inspirin^i  the  souls  of  the  faithful  with  Chris- 
tian fortitude,"  they  are  W(  11  paid.' 

Aceonlin;.:  to  "  tlu!   Kev.   Mr.  Wright's  vicfws,"  as  pre- 
sented by  Mr.  Lindell,  Congrc^'ationalists  "  rejoice!  in  every 


«?' 


458 


HISTORY   OF   PUEMnVTKniANl.HM 


(oiirorniity  with  tluit  (^liurch,"  und  it  will  not  now  t.'iko 
more  than  a  pronlutt  s  ken  to  sec  tliut,  in  not  ahovc  lilty 
years,  Mie  New  r!n;^laiMl  nielr(»|)oli.s,  thirty  liv(!  years  apo 
"the  Mount  /ion  <»!  the  whole  earth"  (so  .sai<l  l>r.  Kiiif.',*, 
may,  hy  thii  superior  "  laeulty  lor  appnteialin^j;  the;  suhlini- 
ily  orCJoil"  i)o.ssesse(|  hy  "the  j'ajjal  (Miureh,"  heeonie  th(5 
most  intensely  Irish  "  Cjilholic  "  city  on  llu;  ('(tntinent. 

In  l.S|.'>  I'xtston  |)ro])er  was  repdrteil  to  have  three; 
churches  ol'  that  denomination.  In  less  than  lorty  years 
iliL'SC  hiiVM!  increased  to  ahove  one  score,  exclusive  of  th»; 
lar^^est  cathedral  and  the  most  capacious  residenet;  for  an 
anthhishop  in  the  j.nid.  Who  wdl  not  say  that  this  has 
be»;n  accomplished  more  hy  "the  heautilul  strains  of  th<! 
church  orjj;an,"  '"  appreciatinj;  the  sultlimity  of  (iod,"  than 
( to  say  nolhin}/  ol,  Ity  an  o|i(!n  Hihh;)  hy  all  the  he.-ids  and 
other  appliances  ol  that  "  mother  church  "  of  fellowdahor- 
crs  with  the  Hev.  Mr.  Wright.  .Ierusal(;m  may  not  hav(s 
been,  nor  he,  the  only  city  of  which  "the  Romans  (may) 
come  and  take  away  i)olh  the  place  an<l  nation." 

While  the  "or;j[;an  loft,"  in  the  full  performance  <)f  its 
functtions,  divided  the  attention  of  congregations  with  the 
desk,  denominational  growth  among  the  evan*;e|ical 
chuntln's  was  not  in  Hoston  in  these;  years  satisfactory. 
|jar;i;e  cities  had  heen  visited  and  aroused  in  (ireat  iJritaiu 
und  Ireland  hy  "Moody,  Sankey,  and  the  Americtan 
or;^an,"  and  there;  wen;  not  wantin^j;  men  of  suhstancu;  to 
provifle  for  them  Imtc  in  due  tim(;  a  "  Tahernacle,"  havii>)^ 
a  platform  accommodattin;^  ahout  one  tht)usand  persons 
and  a  hall  furinshed  with  o.JMO  chairs.  On  January  'Jotli, 
1H77,  this  was  opened.  From  night  to  night,  for  months, 
the  utterane'cs  of  this  energetic  man,  "  mighty  in  the;  Scrip- 
tures," reverherated  throughout  the  huilding,  fdh'd  to  its 
utmoHt  caj)a(:ity,  while  others  coid<l  not  ent(;r.  And  then, 
if  those  wlio  made  the  concourse;  e)f  sweet  sounds  had  e^acii 
individually  "a  faculty  for  ap|ire'ciating  the;  sublimity  of 
(Jod  with  only  ordinary  musical  taste-,"  the;  prese-ni-e-  and 
inteinatieMiH  ol  two  organs  there  and  then  must  have  been 
(by  the'  leigie;  e)f  Mr.  Mnde'H  )  eloublv  "  heavenly." 

These'  "sacred  iidlueneus,"  pnxluceel  by  the-  singing  and 
•laying  of  an  Arminian  "  master  e»f  semg,"  enele-d  on  Sab- 
latii.  May  27th,  when  the  eurnitst  man  gave;  te)  his  converts 
a  charge  to  unite  with  wluiicvor  society  might  Hccm  ge)ejd 


I 


IN   NFAV   f^Nr.LAND. 


459 


to  tliom  iiMlividu.'illy,  Imt  to  t;ik(^  can!  ihsd  ihcy  did  not 
diU'cr  with  (»n<!  jiikiUmt,  lor  said  lie,  "  Mr.  SaiiU»'y  uiid  I 
have  lahorccl  loj^fcllicr  for  l\\v  years,  and  I  can  appeal  to 
liitii  wlicii  I  say  w<'  have  never  diderecl  Keridiisly,  wliile  I 
am  a  (!alviiiisl  and  lie  is  an  Arniinian."  Mr.  Sankey  (ii 
nativi!  of  Western  I'ennsyivania)  lias  a  niaje.sti(!  preseiieo 
and  a  eoinitenaiiee  diflerin^j;  in  many  points  Irmn  the  aver- 
af^e  man  ol  tJiose  hy  whom  he  was  tlien  surrounded.  This 
Httracl.ed  tlie  attention  of  al  hiast  one  of  the  reli^dous 
ladies  on  the  platloriii,  who,  when  the  Assendily  was  «lis- 
iniss<d,  addnssed  the  pastor  ol"  "the  OhI  South''  thus: 
"hr.  ^h•lllnin;I,  I  !iave  heard  something  jmw  to-ni)jlil." 
*'(iuit(!  prohahh',"  Haid  he,  "what  was  it?"  Answer. — '"  1 
always  thou^^dd-  Mt.  Sankey  had  a  very  Oriental  cast  of 
(•ountenanee.  Now  I  know  !iow  to  aecouid.  lor  it,  lor  he  is 
an  Armeuian!"  The  Doctor  was  innocent  eiiou}.di  to  tell 
this  at  the  laying  ot  a  corn<>r-Ktont!  (to  ahout  out;  thousand 
jx'ople)  the  next  <lay. 

On  I'Vhruary  Idtfi,  1K7H,  MessrH.  Whittle  and  M<Oarra- 
lian  resinn<«l  exercises  in  the  Taherna(  le,  and  on  M.ik  h 
od,  loth  and  17th  Mr.  M(»ody  olliciatcd,  closing  his  lahors 
in  tin;  HtrucluH!  hy  a  ten!pcranc<5  nuelinj^  on  the  '2'j^i\. 
Jlowever  |)rorMal»le  his  "  lorcihhi  "  ar;^un!ents  and  "  ri).dit 
uords  "  im^dd  have  heen  (as  they  douhtless  were)  to  many, 
upon  "the  work  of  the  ministry,"  tluj  lonj^  oxcilement  ha(l 
an  unsettling  tendency. 

No  clock  can  always  strike  ttii,  eleven  and  twelyc.  Tho 
avera^M!  nmst  come  down  to  tmv.  as  often  as  strike  twelve, 
and  pastors  felt  this.  This  \h  not  all.  "Action  and  reac- 
tion an;  e(|ual "'  and  ollen  inseparahlc.  In  such  eases  seed 
is  sown  hy  tin;  wayside,  on  nnks  and  anionic  th(»rns,  as  well 
lis  <»n  th(!  ^ood  ( pnpared )  ^Mound.  and  the  results  eorre- 
H|tond.  Those  wlio  "  hrou^dit  forth  fruit  with  paticnci! " 
<-ontinu(!.  Mut:  the  elVectivene.ss  «)f  \\\i'  pul|)it  was  not  in- 
creasiMJ.  "TJie  work  of  the  ministry"  was  less  ajipre- 
(iated  and  the  house  of  pruyer  gradually  niori!  forsaken  ni 
the  coming  months. 

While  it  is  not  he!i«'vcd  that  the  ehurches  (»f  the  I'.aptist 
ami  Methodist  orders  wtn;  more  permanenlly  revived  than 
>ven!  those  of  the  orthodox  ( 'oii^re^'ationalistH  in  tho  city 
j)rop(!r — within  two  years,  in  IMHO,  the  attendaiuic  was 
cnunieruted  on  an  average  of  two  Subhutlm  i!i  the  most 


460 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTEniANISM 


m>. 


propitious  rhurch-poiriK  numth,  Fobruary,  and  in  tho  ton 
orthodox  cIiU'cIm's,  with  a  seating;  ('aj)ncity  «)f"alM)V('  1(),(KK), 
tlwrc  worshipped  '.i,{W,\  persons,  while  the  Kov.  J.  ]i.  Dunn 
rcturnod  in  l;S7'S  to  his  Assenihly  1,1(K),  and  in  1871),  010 
mem  hers. 

Nothinj;  of  the  supposed  aids  in  convcrtinp;  sinners — 

f>relu(k'S,  liynms,  ehou's,  organs,  services  of  son^  and  post- 
udes — were  wanting;  in  thw(!  churches.  They  were  all 
ahreast  of  "the  tinu'S,"  rejoicin;;  in  the  li^^dit  of  the  last 
<|uarter  of  the  nineteenth  century,  as  they  |»reached  their 
"New  ICn^dand  theolo^'y,"  yet,  Mr.  Moody's  "overflow" 
nieetiuRS  two  years  before,  after  the  "  Tahernade "  WiW 
lilleil,  in  nei^hl)orin,i?  churches,  at  times,  did  not  como 
much,  if  any,  short  of  the  now  stated  weekly  attendance  in 
the  ten  churches. 

"Mr.  Mood}'  indulfiied  in  a  'talk  to  niinistors'  not  l(mj:; 
Kinco  at  a  Northlield  (Convocation.  Ainotijt;  other  things,  ho 
advised  them  not  to  Malk  hy  the  yard.'  It  was,  ])erhaps, 
good  advice.  It  mijjcht  not  he  impertinent,  however,  to 
su<r^est  to  Mr.  Moody  that  it  is  not  j)reeisely  in  the  line  of 
his  oallinp  to  lecture  the  preachers. 

"  The  character  of  his  own  '  talk '  does  not  prove  bis 
rip;ht  to  act  in  that  capacity,  and  if  he  were  put  in  the  ])lace 
of  a  pastor  who  ])reaches  two  or  three  times  a  week  and 
does  a  man's  work  besitles,  he  would  learn  })rctty  quickly 
his  unfitness  for  acting  as  an  imi)ronijjtu  professor  of  jtas- 
toral  theology. 

"  Nobody  likes  to  say  a  word  against  the  revivalistic  work 
that  was  so  po[)ular  a  year  or  two  ago,  and  that  is  yet,  to  a 
certain  extent,  depentled  on ;  })Ut  facts  in  r(!gard  to  it 
should  neither  be  denied  nor  withhehl.  One  of  the  most 
earnest  njen  in  London  is  the  Rev.  Newman  Hall.  He  is 
als<>  a  man  ready  to  take  liold  of  any  reasonable  method 
of  helping  in  the  work  of  the  kingdom,  and  will  not  be 
blamed  by  any  one  with  being  restrained  by  ])rejudice 
from  acknowledgment  of  a  go(Ml  cause.  He  has  heen  re- 
peating recently  what  he  said  some  time  since;  respecting 
the  results  of  tlie  work  of  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  in 
liontlon — that  it  was  not  permanently  of  great  value. 

"  Thus,  speakinij;  of  the  effect  of  it  in  connection  with  tho 
admission  of  church  niend)ers,  he  says:  '1  haih^d  that 
visit,  took  part  in  it,  assisted  in  tiie  "  intiuiry  room,"  and  oc- 


IN    NEW   ENOLAND. 


461 


cnsionally  pronclud  in  ronnoction  with  it.  Some  of  tlio 
services  were  held  in  Surrey  ('liiipci.  yt't  out  of  a  nicnibrr- 
sliip  of  oiu!  tliousjiiid  tlircd  liuiulred,  we  linvc  not  thri'O 
who  an;  the  fruits  of  tliat  mission.'"  {"' L'ltUcd  rrcfbi/te- 
r/r/>j,"  VUtshvnih,  S'pt.  Hlh,  llK.Sl.) 

In  tlie  nu'iintinic,  wiiilc  aniidsst  tlicKO  surroundings  tlio 
jiionccr  Prishytcriiin  churcli  in  the  city  sullcrcd  notahttlo 
i»y  tho  ]M»itular  a;^itiiti<»n  for  years,  still  (hity  saifl,  "  Jio 
stCadfjist  and  ininioval)l(',  and  "the  New  Kn^dand 
Primer"  and  its  inculcations,  under  '"the  good  will  of 
him  who  dw(,'lt  in  the  husl;,"'  stood  the  shock. 

In  teaehinji  the  doctrine  of  this  lUMnual  for  id)ove  tliirty 
years,  tho  matter  of  praise  in  this  cliurch  liad  ever  been 
"the  iJook  of  Psalms  sijtj  ointed  hy  the  (Jenernl  A.'isenddy 
of  the  ("hurch  of  Scotland  "  in  1<».')(>.  even  after  ehan}_fe  came 
in  their  own  denomination  and  the  "revised  "  j»salms  were 
in  order.  The  old  version  had  "  a  gnarled  vigor  "  (  Cho(ite) 
liliich  the  others  have  not,  and  never  can  have,  and  coidd 
he  committed  to  memory  for  night  enjoyment,  or  lor  hlind- 
ness,  for  journeying  or  lor  the  l»ed  of  sickness  and  death, 
while  the  other,  as  ca.st  into  the  mould  and  ])eculiar  metres 
of  the  varied  sectarian  hymns,  has,  excepting  in  removing 
a  ftrw  obsolete  words  and  improving  some  dd'ective  rhyme, 
weakened  the  sense,  destroyed  the  dignity  and  Ix'auty  of 
the  old  vei"si()n,  without  adding  to  its  faithfidness,  by  sub- 
stituting a  dej)leted  and  impoverished  English  for  their 
standard  text.  It  has  been  the  attainment  of  many  tor 
th(;ir  spiritual  i)rolit  to  let  this  portion  of  "the  word  of 
(Christ  dwell  in  them  richly." 

Now,  but  few  persons  will  inidertake  to  say,  "Thy  word 
I  in  my  heart  have  hid,"  by  garnering  in  their  memories 
"the  words  which  the  Holy  (Jl.ost  teacheth  "  Jis  they  are 
liere  set  forth,  revi.sed,  and  increased  by  "the  multiplied 
versi((ns  of  man's  taste."  ('onse<|Uently,  their  nundters 
(above  three  hundred)  must  be  reduced,  or  the  coming 
generation,  finding  the  same  metres  in  modern  po«;try,  will 
have  for  tlu;  revisi(jns  and  new  versions  i\n  surplus  of  ven- 
eration nor  h)ve,  and  enter  (►ther  f(»lds. 

Our  debt  and  its  conseipienccs.  Our  people,  being 
nearly  all  employes,  obtaining  small  wages,  and,  in  cases, 
long  out  of  employment,  found  themselves  unable  to  con- 
tend with  the  debt.     Some  at  least,  among  the  progressivo 


m 


462 


HISTORY    OF   PRESBYTKRIAMSM 


11: 


party  in  the  denomination,  had  for  tlio  ("ntorprise  no  sym- 
])atliy,  and  pr()j)<)sed  to  liave  tlie  Assembly  sell  out  tlu^ 
substance,  employ  it  on  spots  in  the  West,  and  giv(>  the 
money,  t(ul  and  jJrMyers  of  the  ])oor  here  to  the  winds,  so 
far  as  our  "disj)hiyin<j;  a  banner  for  the  truth  ''  in  IJostou 
(the  second  commercial  city  of  the  nation)  was  concerned. 
As  a  certain  field  was  valued  at  a  pjoodly  price,  so,  wliih* 
the  property  cost  S*1(),(MI0,  more  or  less,  tliey  could  sell  it  at 
least  for  ^;}(),()0(),  jiay  the  debt  and  clear  (beside  receivinjr 
hack  the  aid  alreiidv  given  by  the  Jioard  of  Church  Exten- 
sion) $li\(M)  to  $]L>,0()().  The  existence  of  this  tried  peo- 
])le  as  a  Christian  church,  and  tlic  salvation  of  souls  liere 
now  and  in  the  future,  were  secondary  matters  in  such 
minds. 

To  maturely  consider  the  case,  in  1S70  the  Boards  of 
Church  Extension  and  Home  Missions  were  associated 
with  the  trustees  to  report  in  1880.  As  only  three  or  four 
of  these  persons  (twenty -six  in  number)  had  ever  seen  the 
iiold  or  the  i)roperty,  the  others  must  judju'c  all  matters  by 
a  distant  western  standard.  The  pastor  desired  to  have  an 
assistant,  and,  taking  this  into  account,  this  joint  commit- 
tee re])orted  to  the  Assembly  that  he  be  recommended  to 
resign,  and  if  he  did  so  the  Board  of  Church  Extension 
was  in  three  years  to  pay  one-half  of  the  debt,  the  Com- 
mittee of  Home  Missions  to  supply  the  preaching  for  five 
years,  or  until  a  pastor  was  settled,  while  with  the  rents  of 
the  dwellings  (about  SGOO  per  annum,  exclusive  of  taxes) 
the  congregation  were  in  five  years  to  pay  the  remaining 
debt. 

Of  this  recommendation  to  be  reported  in  May,  the  pas- 
tor was  informed  on  April  22d. 

This  he  must  do,  beside  removing  some  hundreds  of  dol- 
lars of  a  floating  debt  and  paying  the  arcliitect's  bill  of 
8750,  or  the  sale  of  the  estate  by  the  sheriff  might  become 
a  fact.  After  twelve  years  of  double  toil  he  might  say, 
''Save  me  from  my  friends!"  But,  as  an  optimist,  hu 
"  know  that  the  heavens  do  rule." 

This  committee  recommended  to  him  to  call  a  meeting 
of  his  Presbytery  to  receive  his  resignation  in  ^lay.  Aftt'r 
considering  the  case  he,  in  eleven  days,  replied,  that,  as 
the  ecclesiastical  year  of  the  Assembly  commenced  with 
July,  he  would  await  the  stated  meeting  of  Presbytery  on 


IN    NEW   ENGLAND. 


4G3 


the  2ntli  (lay  of  June.  This  ho  did  to  coniploto  his  fifty 
yoars,  as  ho  was  li(MMised  to  preach  the  jiospcl  on  Juno 
2Sth,  1(S;^().  When  he  had  to  inform  his  ('on<,M-cjj;ation  tliat 
ho  must  stop,  so  that  "a  new  man  with  now  motiiods  " 
mi^ht  stop  in,  a  thuiidorholt  out  of  a  ok'ar  sky  couUl  not 
liavo  astonished  them  more.  No  "roots  of  l)ittornoss  Avoro 
trouhlinfi;"  them.  Neither  the  cliuroh,  the  pastor,  nor  the 
Proshytory  asked  for  this  ohani^o,  nor  thought  of  it,  hut  in 
the  ahovo  way  the  (h'ht  (it  was  su[)posod)  could  ho  more 
than  ])aid,  while  the  jjrogrossivos  would   control   the  liehh 

When  one,  wiio  had  heen  for  thirty-nine  years  a  j)astor, 
said,  "How  can  you  en<Iuro  this?  it  would  break  mo 
down,"  the  reply  was,  we  must  ''glory  in  tribulations." 
This  had  to  bo  done.  Tiio  elders  had  boon  for  months 
thanking  (Jod  for  the  j)rosi)ority  of  the  congregation,  and 
as  the  commotions  of  1M77-7<S  iiad  spent  their  force,  hope 
was  in  the  asccnuhmt.  Tiio  pastor  now  must  shut  his 
nioutli.  Tliis  was  to  him  the  "  lamentation  and  for  a 
lamentation "  the  woe  of  "  preaching  not  the  gospel " 
imder  the  "  necessity  " 

The  Presbytery  took  their  own  time  in  dissolving  the 
relation,  and  they  declared  the  pulpit  vacant  on  July  IStii, 
the  pastor  (after  gathering  his  ciuirch  in  fourteen  njonths) 
liaving  been  installed  on  July  18th,  1H47. 

Lost  he  might  in  any  way  bo  a  disturbing  element  in 
the  j)rosperity  of  the  congregation,  ho  soon  afterwards  re- 
moved from  the  bounds.*  To  moderns  his  course  of  pas- 
toral life  appeared  to  be  suicidal.  Nothing  popular,  no 
hynms,  no  organs,  no  choirs,  no  preludes,  no  postludes, 
nothing  sensational,  .simply  "preaching  the  unsearchable 
riches  of  Christ "  and  singing  "  psalms,"  to  keep  a  church 
alive  in  the  very  focus  of  "  advanced  thought,"  immedi- 
ately beside  the  temples  of  Theodore  Parker  and  Thomas 
Paine ! 

Jiut  God  honors  his  own  word.  In  the  last  twenty-seven 
years  the  pastor  saw  above  twenty  Presbyterian  ministers 
leave  the  city,  while  the  mutations  of  those  of  other  de- 
nominations were  superabundant.     Father  Fitton  and  tiio 


*  For  the  toil  of  twelve  years  and  private  funds  invested,  he  was 
allowed  anmiaily  the  amount  now  paid  l»y  the  sexton,  for  the  inferior 
one  of  the  two  dwellings  in  the  church  eritate. 


464 


HISTORY  OF  PRESnYTKRIANISM 


Unitarinn  Doctors  Bartol  nnd  Froomnn  Clarko.  wore  the 
onlv  ones  lelt  by  him  there,  who  were  ofliciating  in  Jk);-- 
ton'on  May  20th,  1840. 

Duriiij;  the  hist  year  of  his  pastoral  relation  the  appre- 
ciate averape  inerease  of  ineniixTshi))  in  the  denomination 
was  only  2.oo  per  eent.,  while  his  was  l.'>.7()  per  cent.  To 
this  extent  God  was  pleased  to  "  work  In'  him."  (Acts 
XV.  12.) 

While  the  ten  orthodox  ministers  of  the  city,  in  preaeh- 
inp  "New  Enpland  theolopy,"  had  (aeeordinp  to  the- Rev. 
Dr.  Cuyler)  an  increase  in  all,  in  1871i-!S(),  of  twenty  mem- 
bers, the  Calvinistic  preacher  keepinp"the  faith  *' of  the 
New  Enpland  Primer,  ipnorinp  all  "thinps  without  life- 
pivinp  sound,"  and  usinp  only  "the  liook  of  Psalms" 
(Luke  XX.  42)  in  Divine  worship,  was  honored  by  the 
Master  with  a  numerical  increase,  beyond  deaths  and  re- 
movals, of  nineteen  souls. 

*'  Boastinp  is,"  by  Calvinism,  ''excluded,"  yet,  it  is  law- 
ful to  say,  "What  hath  (iod  wroupht."  Divine  appoint- 
ment reipns  in  his  service  and  worship.  Hence,  to  promote 
his  own  plory,  he  honors  his  own  aj>pointed  instrumentali- 
ties exclusively.  To  all  others  and  their  "  new  methods," 
he  says,  "Who  hath  required  this  at  your  hand."     (Is.  1. 

11,  12.) 

In  answer  to  their  call  the  Rev.  John  Hood,  formerly 
of  West  Hebron,  New  York,  was  installed  pastor  of  this 
congregation  on  September  7th,  A,  d.  1881.  In  May  their 
roll  was  147,  it,  owing  to  the  varied  su|)ply,  being  reduced 
11  in  the  year. 

Durinpthis  period,  1868-1881,  Thomsonville,  Ct.,  sus- 
tained ordinances,  and  on  October  28th,  1873,  Mr.  Clarke 
McCracken  was  ordained  and  installed  pastor.  This  rela- 
tion still  pleasantly  continues,  and  for  convenience,  some 
years  since,  at  their  own  request,  as  ))astor  and  people, 
they  were  by  Synod  dismissed  to  the  First  U.  P.  Presby- 
tery of  New  York. 

Between  these  dates  East  Boston  run  its  course.  On 
October  8th,  1868,  a  call  made  by  them  for  the  Rev.  Georpe 
M.  Clarke,  formerly  of  Nova  Scotia,  was  sustained.  He 
was  installed,  and  much  promise  seemed  to  be  in  the  en- 
joyment of  his  services  for  a  season.  But  he  could  not  be 
limited  to  the  use  of  the  Book  of  Psalms  in  his  pulpit 


IN    NEW   ENGLAND. 


4G5 


>rc  the 
lU  lios- 

'  appro- 

inution 

M.    To 

(Acts 

proach- 
he-  Ucv. 
V  niem- 
''  of  tho 
M\i  litV- 
i'salnis  " 

by  tho 

and  re- 

it  is  law- 
appoint- 
proiviote 
imcntali- 
lethods," 
,"     (Is.  I. 

urmerlv 
of  this 
ay  their 
it'duccd 

Cf.,  sns- 
r.  Clarke 
his  rohi- 
ce,  some 
])eopU', 
Prcsby- 

ise.     On 
CJcor^'e 

>ed.  Ho 
1  the  en- 
d  iu)t  be 
s  pulpit 


dntiPS.  TTo  prnvod  to  ho  po  much  attached  to"para- 
j)hrases"'  that  trouble  came,  and  on  July  ITtli,  187U,  ho 
resij^ned  and  went  to  Canada. 

The  connrepation  were  in  <rood  workinfr  order.  Ono 
penerous  adherent  aided  tlieiii  liseally  very  nuich,  and  did 
nnieh  for  the  coniire^ation  when  vacant,  but  it  was  in  vain. 
'J'iie  jiastor  had  sowed  seeds  of  di.scord,  which  could  not 
bo  rooted  up,  and  alter  Si)n)(>  supply  for  months,  tlie  church 
roll  was  by  Presbytery  deposited  with  its  own  clerk,  who 
■was  authorizetl  to  jxive  certificates  to  those  entiiled  to  them. 
After  years  of  delay,  on  Ai)ril  11th,  187Ji,  finding;  both 
]Oast  Boston  and  the  station  at  Hartford,  Ct.,  hopeless, 
I'resbytery  odieially  dissolved  these  organizations. 

In  'j'i'ondrntr,  R.  /,  tlu;  Kev.  John  P.  Hobb  had  ofliciated 
as  pastor  ;m  the  11.  P.  church)  from  April  '.'"th,  18G0, 
until  1874,  when  he  was,  on  January  2d,  releast  .. 

After  varie(l  candidates  had  \iv\\  heard,  the  conprepa- 
tion  called  Mr.  M.  S.  McCord,  who  was  ordained  and  in- 
^<talled  on  December  21)th,  bs74.  With  the  morning  of 
manhood  upon  him,  a  wdling  and  intelligent  peo|>l(^ 
around  him,  in  one  of  our  most  prosperous  manufacturing 
and  connnereial  cities,  he  continues  to  "  make  full  proof 
of  his  ministry,"  and  returns  a  roll  of 'Jl.')  members. 

The  ministry  of  the  llev  .bisliua  li.  Kyle  was  (notwith- 
standmg  a  want  of  attachment  to  the  principles  of  the  de- 
nomination) coiitinued  from  April,  a,  I).  18()7,  until  Sep- 
tember Sth,  187'),  when  he  was  dismissed  from  Fall  River. 

During  i)art  of  this  tinu;  he  liad  competition,  tor  tho 
►Second  Moston  Presbytery,  on  October  '.ith,  1872,  "ap- 
pointed committees  to  organize  churches  in  Heading,  Fall 
Iiiver  and  Providence  whenever  the  way  seems  open,"  and 
to  this  eity  the  Rev.  Sollau  F.  Calhoun,  from  Ix) well,  soon 
afterwards  came.  By  this  movement  an  a.sylum  was 
opened  for  seme  who  had  diiliculties  to  brood  over,  but 
from  it  no  permanent  good  eauie. 

A  year  jiassed,  and  on  Septend>or  Ath,  1876,  the  Rev. 
J.  II.  Turnbull  was  installed  as  [)astor.  In  this,  tho  first 
cotton  manufacturing  city  in  X«'W  England,  for  a  genera- 
tion Presbyterians  have  aboimdcd,  and  in  a.  u.  1880  tho 
church  ro'l  was  increased  nine,  while  it  stands  in  a.  d. 
1881  at  iCl). 

In  Willcliisuiivillc  the  Rev.  P.  Y.  Smith  was  reported  at 
80 


4GG 


HISTORY   OF    PRESnYTKRIAXISM 


the  end  of  the  last  quarter  of  a  rontury  as  pastor.  Tlioro 
ho  still  continues,  as  a  county  olliccr,  suiM^rintcndiiiti  its 
educational  interests,  and,  as  pastor  of  the  U.  1*.  church, 
"takinj;  heed  to  the  tlock."'  In  his  limited  field  lu;  re- 
turns a  roll  of  ^t'i  in  a.  d.  18S1. 

In  W'hitinsvillc,  M<(n8.,  the  Uev.  Rohert  Harkness 
]>reached  from  January  8th,  IST.'J,  till  April  2"Jd,  1S74, 
Avhen,  not  lindinfjj  congenial  surroundinL^'^,  he  left.  Not 
so  much,  or  perha])s  at  all,  from  any  fault  of  his,  hut  from 
b(!lligerent  manifestations  among  tlu;  people.  After  re- 
ceiving his  resignation,  I'reshytery  dissolved  the  church. 

It  was  re-organized  on  Deeetnher  .'iOth,  1S74,  and  had 
various  sui>j)lies  until  .Mr.  .lames  !>.  Thoiiipson  was  or- 
dained and  installed  there  on  June  11th,  1S78.  ('onsider- 
ing  the  liniited  extent  of  the  field,  th«'y  are  prospering  in 
all  things,  and  his  roil  numhers  ScS  memhers  in  a.  d. 
ISHl. 

In  Lmn-encr,  the  Rev.  John  Ifogg,  as  pastor,  ofTiciated 
from  April  7th,  ISdt),  till  November  2.']d,  1875.  He  was 
successlul  in  gathering  the  peojile,  and,  with  them,  in  ex- 
changing the  small  meeting-houses  for  a  new  one  with 
modern  conveniences.  In  his  mind  the  lust  of  numhers 
obtained  a  ])repond(>ran('e  over  his  attachment  to  the  nrin- 
ciples  of  his  churi'h,  as  he  found  himself  increasingly  in 
liarmony  with  those  who  had  entereil  their  "  dissent"  in 
the  Assembly  of  IStu  in  the  McCune  case. 

That  man  (McCune)  had,  while  a  student,  imbibed  Con- 
gregationalism, and  the  ^b)nongahela  A.  R.  Presbytery 
declined,  on  A.\n''\\  12th,  1854,  to  license  him.  He  was, 
liowever,  quietly  licensed  on  I)ecend)er  2511),  by  the  First 
A.  R.  Presbyterv  of  Ohio,  and  ordainecl  without  charges  by 
that  court  in  Xanuary,  1850.  He  organized  a  mission 
church  in  Cincinnati,  to  which  he  ])reache<l  until  July, 
18G7.  He  was  brought  into  the  church  courts  in  LSGG  for 
u  work,  which  he  published  on  church  fellowship,  and  the 
case  having  been  aj)})ealed  to  the  (ien<'ral  Assembly  of 
18G7,  it  was  then  decided  that  he  was  guilty  of  "holding 
and  defending  serious  and  fundamental  error  on  the  sub- 
ject of  church  fellowship."  He  then  uniteel  with  the 
Presbyterian  church,  organized  a  non-denominational 
church  in  the  ahove-named  city,  which  resulted  in  his 
trial  before  the  Presbytery  of  Cincinnati ;  and  although 


IN    NEW   ENGLAND. 


467 


Thorn 
Wws.  it!< 
chuvch, 
L  he  rt- 

[iirkncsrt 
1.1,  1ST4, 
.ft.     Not 
l)ut  from 
After  re- 
•liurch. 
and  IkuI 
I  ws\8  or- 
LN^nsidor- 
pering  in 
in  A.  V. 

ofTieiatod 
Ho  wj\s 

cm,  in  ex- 
one  with 

f  iiunihcrs 
the  urin- 
sinjily  in 


nt"  in 


)ihpd  Con- 
'roshytory 
lie  was, 
'  i\w  First 
chivrRo  hy 
,a  nnssion 
Imtil  July, 

|),  and  the 
Iscmhly  of 
"  holding:; 
m  tiu>  snb- 
wilii  the 
rtinational 
,ed  in  his 
although 


not  oonvirtod  of  positive  error,  it  shewed  his  trne  views, 
:nid  he  transferred  his  relations  aeeordinuly.  l']sp(»usint; 
the  "sunieicntly  (Uvine"  eeclcsiastieal  polity  which  nri;j:i- 
nated  at  Sah'in,  Mass.,  on  AiijiUst  ('>th,  KJ-JO,  lie  occupies 
at  Dallas,  Texas,  as  an  "acting  pastor"  {Coiiyrtyitional 
Yritr  Hook,  IHSl )  to  2."»  nienihers. 

Kronj  the  "  decrees  "  of  the  Assenihly  in  his  ease,  there 
w<'r(>  "dissenters"  who  sympathized  with  him  in  some  of 
his  profiressive  views.  None  of  these  were  found  amon{]j 
men  ol"  experience,  ami  "  the  spirit  of  the  age  "  demanding 
iimovation,  the  chin-ch  has  hanlly  heen  recently  a  yeur 
without  the  agitation  produced  hy  "  overtures."  Psalmody 
was  tossed  like  a  weaver's  shuttle.  l!evisions,  new  ver- 
sions, psalters,  selections  sent  down  and  reported  u|»  from 
year  to  year,  did  not  increase  ohc<licnce  to  the  Divine*  in- 
junctions, "  Take  heed  to  the  doctrine,"  "  feed  the  flock" 
As  a  natural  secjuence  to  agitation  ahout  the  matter  of 
praise  came  the  manner  of  rendering  it.  and  in  ISTO  an 
overture  was  demanded  to  eliminate  from  the  avowed 
principles  of  the  church,  sec.  A,  art.  2.  chaj).  3,  of  her  Di- 
rectory for  Worship.  While,  in  1S70,  this  did  not  ohtaiu 
the  necessary  two-thirds  vote  to  send  it  down,  yet  it 
marked  tlu^  progressive  force  of  the  "dissenters,"  as  it 
stood  8()  for  change  to  74  for  "  letting  well  enough  alone" 

New  versions  of  the  Psalms  were  |)r(*|)ared,  not  for  psalm 
tunes,  hut  for  such  tunes  as  were  popular  among  the  varied 
forms  of  human  hymns,  KVKM)  of  which  tun<>s  (according 
to  Fitz)  have  perished  in  New  England,  all  the  o(Vsj)ring 
of  modern  tastes.  As  domestic  insubordination  aug- 
mented, as  family  worship  became  of  less  importance, 
children  and  youth  came  to  the  front  and  "clamoured  for 
Gprightly  music." 

'J'o  this,  "  the  s])irit  of  the  land,"  she  must  yield,  and  to 
make  the  hope  of  the  church,  her  children,  steadfast  United 
Presbyterians,  they  must  be  sujinlied  with  the  "rub-a- 
dub"  applied  to  portions  of  (Jod's  word.  As  the  "  I'iS 
versions,  embracing  117  i)salms,"  in  addition  to  the  former 
version,  making  in  all  ."301  songs,  were  obviously  too 
numerous  for  children  to  become  acquainted  with  them, 
and  especially  to  learn  them  as  portions  of  Divine  truth  ; 
so  l.'jO  selections  must  be  made,  and  "  what  God  had 
joined  together  man  must  put  asunder,"  and  call  the  frag- 


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468 


HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


mcnts  "  Bible  Son^s."  Of  tlie  General  Assembly  of  1881, 
but  one  man,  a  ruling  elder  (it  is  said),  bad  been  a  mem- 
ber of  tbe  ])receding  one.  Consequently  tlie  action  of 
1879,  wbicb  opened  tbis  flood-gate  of  childisb  doing,  was 
not  fully  approved  by  tbe  Assemldy  of  1880,  and  while 
tbey  could  not  stop  tbe  "  sprigbtly  music "  wbicb  bad 
been  writton  or  selected  for  tbese  "songs,"  and  was  scat- 
tered by  thousands  of  copies  prematurely  among  the 
oburcbes,  tbey  appointed  a  committee  of  five  to  re])ort  in 
the  case.  One  of  tbese  was  tbe  leading  musician  who  had 
for  years  led  on  the  "clamour"  (as  be  called  it),  and  in 
reporting  witb  his  compeer,  said :  1."  It  was  in  an  emi- 
n(!nt  degree  such  a  book  as  the  Assembly  ordered.  2. 
For  14,000  copies  bad  been  sold  in  five  months.  3.  It 
would  be  an  aid  if  used.  4.  Any  change  would  involve 
great  expense  in  tbe  j)urebase  of  new  music.  5.  It  would 
produce  confusion  and  look  like  trilling."  The  majority 
reported  :  "  The  principle  of  selections  is  '  a  very  serious 
error.'  1.  Z\  is  subversive  of  our  position.  2.  It  involves 
the  rejectioii  of  a  portion  of  the  psalms,  as  unsuitable  to 
be  used  in  tbe  Sabbiitb-scbool.  3.  It  is  an  assumption 
that  tbe  Book  of  Psalms  is  not  suited  to  be  a  system  of 
praise  for  children.  4.  Its  tendency  is  to  exclude  the 
Book  of  Psalms  from  tbe  cliurcb  in  a  few  years,  and  5.  Is 
a  mutilation  of  God's  book  of  praise." 

The  Assembly  authorized  the  Board  of  Publication  to 
publish  "  Bible  Songs "  to  meet  tbe  demand,  said  "  no 
farther  action  on  this  matter  is  necessary  at  the  present 
tmie,"  and  overtured,  "Siiall  section  five,  article  two, 
chapter  three  of  the  Directory  for  Worship  be  repealed  ?  '■' 
This  section  forbids  tbe  use  of  instrumental  music  in  di- 
vine worship.  A  certain  class  of  men  must  be  popular, 
and  tbis  innovation  Mr.  Hogg  did  not  discountenance  in 
I^awrence,  as  an  organ,  in  opposition  to  the  authority  of 
the  church,  has  been  for  years  used  there.  He  resigned 
in  November,  1875. 

Among  the  supplies  who  ofliciated  there  afterwards  was 
Mr.  Albert  G.  McCoy.  It  was  believed  that  an  unanimous 
call  would  have  been  extended  to  him,  and  when  asked 
privately  as  to  the  appearance  of  the  congregation,  be  an- 
swered, "  It  is  a  Presbyterian  congregation,  and  a  good 
one,  but  where  the  '  United  Presbyterian '  comes  in  I  can* 


I 


IN   NEW   ENGLAND. 


469 


not  see."  Among  supply  subsequently  sent  was  the  Rev. 
Jolin  Aukl  Burns.  His  hoiilth  was  not  good,  yet  he  was 
installed  on  August  4th,  1876. 

While  using  medical  means,  he  succumbed  to  "  Bright's 
disease,"  and  as  the  taper  of  life  grew  shorter,  he  "preached 
as  a  dying  man  to  dying  men." 

Instead  of  trifling  with  modern  themes,  supposed  to  be 
*'  abreast  of  the  times,"  he  digested  "  Ambrose  looking  unto 
Jesus,"  and  to  that  people  preached  the  gospel  with  all  the 
grace  of  novelty.  They  were  interested  and  edified,  but 
his  end  came  on  March  28th,  1878. 

The  Rev.  Robert  A.  McAyeal,  D.  D.,  was  admitted  to  the 
pastorate  of  this  church  on  January  21st,  1879.  He  not 
only  possesses  great  ability,  guided  by  above  twenty 
years  of  experience,  but  is  decidedly  "  abreast  of  the 
times,"  and  is  as  progressive  as  the  law  of  his  limitation 
will  allow  him  to  be.  Employing  "  Bible  Songs  "  (with  the 
organ  looking  on,  if  not  joining  in),  he  has  one  hundred 
and  fifty-six  scholars  in  his  Sabbath  school.  That  the 
old  version  of  the  psalms  were  best  to  be  used,  he  docs  not 
believe,  but  afiirnis  that  in  order  to  gather  United  Presby- 
terians into  the  church  in  New  England,  the  "  new  ver- 
sion "  must  be  used.  With  this  opinion  his  returns  do 
not  correspond. 

In  1880  his  number  on  the  roll  Avas  200;  in  1881  it  was 
181.  This  may  be  to  some  extent  owing  to  removals  for 
employment,  but  in  all  United  Presbyterian  churches  in 
the  seaboard  cities,  the  "gnarled  vigor"  of  the  Scotch  ver- 
sion (wherever  due  pains  are  taken  to  explain  the  divine 
origin,  appointment  and  meaning  of  the  psalms)  is  most 
effective.  "  The  words  which  the  Holy  Ghost  teacheth  " 
savor  more  of  "  the  simplicity  of  Christ "  than  do  tlie  same 
Avords  diffused  or  contracted  through  the  enticing  words 
of  man's  wisdom  in  imitation  of  modern  poetrj'. 

United  Presbyterian  Prcshj/teri/  of  Vermont.  In  Barnet  the 
Rev.  John  Service  labored  from  18G8  till  March  8th,  1877. 
Tiiey  were  then  vacant  until  February  19th,  1879,  when 
the  Rev.  Robert  N.  Hammond  was  ordained  and  installed 
pastor.     In  May,  1881,  his  roll  stood  at  139. 

In  Ryegate  the  Rev.  Alexander  Y.  Houston  was  installed 
February  13th,  1873,  and  was  pastor  till  February,  1875. 
On  June  10th,  1876,  the  Rev.  James  R.  Clapperton  was  in- 


470 


HISTORY   OP   PRESBYTERIANISM 


stalled,  and  was  released  on  July  3d,  1881,  leaving  a  roll 
of  ninety-seven. 

Greensboro  had  only  the  uncertain  subsistence  of  sup- 
plies for  several  years  until  October  23d,  1878,  when  Mr. 
Albert  S.  Stewart  was  ordained  and  installed.  On  Jan- 
uary 17th,  1881,  he  resigned.  They  are  still  vacant. 
Roll  in  May,  1881,  fifty-nine. 

Such  is  our  representation  of  the  United  Presbyterian 
Church  of  North  America  in  New  England  in  1881.  The 
condition  of  the  churches  in  this  peculiar  region  is  attract- 
ing the  attention  of  thinking  men.  They  see  "  the  gold 
becoming  dim,"  and  some  of  tiiem  air  virtually  saying, 
"Consider  of  it,  take  advice,  and  spcik  your  minds." 
Hence  (among  others)  Prof.  George  P.  Fisher  contributes 
a  most  suggestive  article  to  the  North  American  Review  for 
October  on  "The  Elements  of  Puritanism,"  on  which  the 
editor  of  the  Evangelical  Repository  (of  the  United  Presby- 
terian Church)  is  constrained  to  say : 

"  The  introduction  to  the  essay  describes  the  changes 
which  have  taken  place  in  the  matter  of  praise  and  the 
mariner  of  rendering  it  during  the  last  century.  If  it  was 
not  a  matter  of  history,  the  accuracy  of  which  cannot  be 
questioned,  it  would  be  hard  to  believe  that  New  England 
only  a  century  ago  was  so  sound,  sober  and  conservative 
in  its  religious  doctrines  and  modes  of  worship  as  it  un- 
doubtedly was.  Marking  as  we  do,  not  only  with  sur- 
prise, but  with  a  degree  of  sadness,  these  great  changes,  the 
question  at  once  arises  in  the  mind,  are  we  not  following 
rapidly  in  the  wake  of  New  England  ? 

"  We  trust  we  will  not  be  regarded  as  unduly  conserva- 
tive if  we  express  the  earnest  hope  that  even  in  ecclesiasti- 
cal changes  which  affect  only  the  outward  forms  of  wor- 
ship, we  will  not  press  too  rapidly  in  the  footsteps  of  the 
New  England  Puritans.  We  think  there  are  but  few  of 
our  people  who  do  not  feel  that  the  supposed  progress  of 
Puritanism  in  New  England  has  been  retrogression," 

To  this  editor  the  writer  would  say,  provoke  your 
brother  editors  of  our  other  United  Presbyterian  periodi- 
cals to  "  ponder  the  path  of  their  feet,"  and  to  them  sing 
the  Canadian  boat-song — 


"  Row,  brothers,  row,  for  the  rapids  are  near," 


IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


471 


To  complete  our  survey,  we  require  full  information 
from  Peacliam,  Craftsbury,  Topsham,  West  Barnet,  and 
perhaps  other  places  in  Vermont,  where  there  are  members 
of  the  Reformed  persuasion,  but  after  earnest  requests  and 

?atient  waiting,  replies  to  inquiries  have  not  been  obtained, 
f  they  had  been,  the  field  (New  England,  it  is  believed) 
would  be  fully  represented,  and  but  little,  if  anything,  of 
Presbyterianism  have  been  left  unnoticed. 

So  to  approximate  the  number  and  prosperity  of  these 
unknown  churches,  I  suppose  them  to  contain  probably 
200  members — possibly,  with  Ryegate  and  South  Barnet, 
400  members  in  all,  so  that  in  a  population  of  4,100,000 
the  whole  membership  under  the  general  name  will  be  in 
the  Reunited  Church,  3,814 ;  in  the  United  Presbyterian 
Church,  892;  in  the  Reformed  churches  in  Boston,  313, 
making  probably  in  all  about  5,400  members,  and  of  the 
population  some  ten  or  fifteen  thousand  souls. 

Beside  these,  it  is  believed  there  are  nearly  as  many 
other  Presbyterians  in  the  region  who  are  careless  and  un- 
cared  for — who  have  become  indifferent  about  their  souls' 
salvation,  to  say  nothing  of  the  thousands  who  have 
united  with  other  persuasions.  In  view  of  their  condition, 
their  prospects  and  their  doom,  they  may  say,  "  M-^n  of 
Israel,  help."  This  plea  and  petition  are  intensified  by 
the  fact  that  others  are  daily  coming,  and  will  in  future 
pour  into  her  commercial  towns.  Who  will  care  for  their 
bouls?     Will  no  man? 


I' 


1868-1881 — Reformed  Presbyterian — Win.  Graham  in  Boston — Increase 
slow,  but  more  pennaiieiit — Hired  halls — Presbyterians  suffer  less  in 
them  in  Boston  than  elsewhere — Began  to  build  in  1873,  and  under  their 
own  roof  February  15th,  1874 — Aid  called  for — Their  edifice  costly — ■ 
As  Presbyterians  they  could  not  hold  or  enjoy  under  State  law — Their 
numbers  now — Division — Second  Reformed  Presbyterian  Churchiu  Bos- 
ton—Never  a  station— Rev.  D.  McFall  installed  July  11th,  1873— They 
purchased  a  church  estate  title — Self-supporting — They  were  un- 
noticed— Travestied  in  the  Daily  Neirs  and  by  the  Sun  as  a  "()ueer 
religious  sect" — Above  the  average  amount  of  pulpit  jiower — Rev.  E. 
D.  Winslow,  who  ridicules  them,  himself  a  forger  and  a  villain — 
Some  men  their  sins  follow  after — Boston  as  a  field  for  these  (pieer 
folk,  and  their  success  looks  like  "the  burning  bush" — A  curious 
fact — He  led  the  court  for  wisdom — They  are  now  owned  extensively 
by  the  head  of  the  church  in  maintaining  the  Calvinism  of  the 
Puritans. 


iPi 


i: 


472 


HISTORY  OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


We  have  noticed  the  gatherinj];  of  a  Reformed  Preshyte- 
rian  Church  in  Boston,  and  its  organization  on  July  12th, 
1854.  From  the  12th  of  July,  1860,  the  Rev.  Wm. 
Graham  as  pastor  "  took  heed  to  the  tlock."  The  increase 
■was  of  necessity  slow,  but  this  contributed  to  permanency. 
In  common  with  others,  this  people  worshipped  in  hired 
halls,  but  in  Boston  (it  is  believed)  a  new  church  enter- 
prise will  suffer  less  in  such  places  than  in  any  other  city 
known  to  the  writer.  There  exists  no  air  of  sacredness 
about  such  a  place,  and  floating  persons  will  occasionally 
venture  in.  Still  changes  from  place  to  place  tax  attach- 
ment to  principle,  and  a  permanent  house  of  worship  be- 
comes a  necessity. 

This  pastor  and  his  people  began  to  build  a  church  in 
August,  1873,  and  on  February  15th,  1874,  they  com- 
menced public  worship  under  their  own  roof  This  in- 
cessantly taxed  their  energies,  and  they  had  to  call  ex- 
tensively on  others  for  aid. 

In  such  enterprises  much  is  economized  by  having  the 
assistance  of  mechanical  skill  at  hand  to  determine 
values,  and  in  their  case  nothing  or  but  little  was  in  this 
■way  saved.  Their  spacious  church  edilice  was  costly, 
still  they  have  been  able,  in  the  face  of  great  disadvan- 
tages, to  retain  it.  In  common  with  all  other  Presbyte- 
rians, they  could  not  hold  and  enjoy  their  church  estate  in 
Massachusetts  by  a  board  of  trustees,  and  their  tenure  is 
provided  for  otherwise.  By  being  "steadfast  and  un- 
movable,"  they  are  now  able  under  the  divine  blessing 
to  grow,  having  "  an  active  membership  of  two  hundretl 
and  nine  (209),  with  seventeen  others  sustaining  to  them 
a  nominal  relation,  but  whom  they  do  not  count." 

We  are  not,  however,  to  suppose  that  for  twenty-seven 
years  this  congregation  have  had  only  unbroken  repose  in 
their  associated  fellowship.  It  was  otherwise.  Individ- 
uals from  other  "  strait  sects  "  uniting  with  them,  intro- 
duced their  shades  of  opinion,  and  a  congregation  hived 
out  of  the  original  one,  in  which  separation  the  dislike  of 
persons  and  unwillingness  to  associate  with  them  was  prob- 
ably more  in  force  than  any  change  of  doctrinal  opinion. 

"  The  Second  Boston  Reformed  Presbyterian  congregation  " 
was  organized  .,/  commission  of  the  New  York  Presbytery 
on  November  21st,  1871.     It  was  never  a  mission  station, 


IN   NEW  ENGLAND. 


473 


but  always  a  self-supporting  congregation,  originally  of 
thirty  members.  As  a  vacancy  they  were  supplied  by  the 
Rev.  T.  jV[.  Elder,  of  Dayton,  Pa.,  and  others  under  the  ap- 
pointment of  their  Presbytery.  On  May  18th,  1871,  the 
Kev.  David  McFall  was  settled  at  Oil  City,  Pa.,  and  on  re- 
ceiving a  call,  was  translated  to  Boston  and  installed  on 
July  11th,  1873. 

In  abandoning  hired  halls  they  had  some  advantage,  as 
they  were  enal)led  in  October,  1879,  to  purchase  at  a  low 
price  a  good  church  edifice,  one  built  by  and  for  years 
owned  by  the  orthodox,  from  wliich  the  occupants  had 
hived  to  fill  the  empty  seats  proffered  to  them  under  the 
ministry  of  the  successor  of  the  late  Kev.  E.  N.  Kirk,  D.  D. 
Here  also  title  must  vest  in  individuals,  for  as  Presby- 
terians, to  say  nothing  of  their  want  of  citizenship,  they 
could  not  as  a  church  hold  or  enjoy  real  estate  in  Boston, 
for  the  worship  of  God.  As  they  were  self-supporting 
when  only  thirty  strong,  they  are  not  less  so  now  wlieu 
they  number  one  liundred  and  four  active  members.  •  Be- 
fore noticing  their  growth  amid.st  their  surroundings, 
it  must  be  observed  that  hy  the  hymn-singing  community 
they  were  unnoticed  and  unknown.  Hence  a  Boston 
paper,  tlie  Dally  Xews,  in  1872,  with  the  New  York  !San, 
thus  travesties  tliem : 

"  There  is  a  queer  religious  sect  in  St.  Louis,  called 
among  themselves  1)V  the  honored  name  of  Covenanters — 
to  whicli  they  doubtless  have  no  right — although  not  so 
designated  in  the  list  of  churches  given  in  the  City  Direc- 
tory. Its  members  are  not  allowed  to  exercise  the  right  of 
suffrage;  but  there  is  notliing  in  tlieir  belief  to  prevent 
them  from  holding  oliice  when  they  are  afforded  the  op- 
portunity, and  several  of  them  enjoy  snug  positions  under 
the  city  and  county  governments.  A  member  who  marries 
outside  of  the  pale  of  tlie  clmrch  is  at  once  excommuni- 
cated. Recently  a  son  of  one  of  the  most  prominent  lead- 
ers of  the  faith  came  of  age,  and  celebrated  his  accession  to 
the  dignity  of  manhood  by  voting,  like  a  good  ( Hizen,  at 
the  next  election.  Whereupon  the  church  took  action, 
and  cast  him  from  among  them  as  unworthy  of  fellowship. 
But  an  elder,  who  was  shortly  afterward  proven  guilty  of 
gross  immorality,  was  permitted  to  retain  both  his  mem- 
bership and  his  otlice." — N.  Y.  San. 


I 


1 

1        /: 
,1'        ' 

!i  1? 


474 


HISTORY   OP   PRESBYTERIANISM 


That  any  man  should  publish  a  paper  in  New  York, 
where  some  of  much  above  the  average  amount  of  pulpit 
power  has  been  and  is  wielded  by  Doctors  of  Divinity  be- 
longing to  this  "queer  religious  sect,"  and  ignore  them  be- 
cause a  cent  a  liner  reports  them  thus,  only  shews  how  far 
such  professed  elevators  of  human  character  as  editors  are 
qualified  for  the  position  they  assume.  Beyond  this  we 
must  look  at  the  light  cast  on  the  Covenanters  in  Boston 
in  this  scrap,  copied  by  the  immaculate  Rev.  E.  D.  Wins- 
low,  a  Methodist  preacher,  who,  on  Sabbath,  January  9th, 
1870,  after  inculcating  Arminianism  in  Auburndale,  Mass., 
left  his  Daily  News  and  tied  for  Holland,  where,  if  once 
reached,  no  extradition  treaty  would  return  him  to  be 
"proven  guilty  of  gross  immorality." 

Into  the  account  must  be  here  taken,  however,  his  belief 
in  "  falling  from  grace,"  which  he  might  recover  again,  as 
he  was  a  forger  'at  was  published)  only  to  the  extent  of 
two  hundred  thousand  dollars.  "  Some  men's  sins  are 
open  beforehand,  going  before  to  judgment ;  and  some  men 
they  follow  after." 

When  we  look  at  Boston  as  a  field,  where  only  "  ten  per 
cent,  of  the  population  are  Protestant  evangelical,"  and 
then  at  this  "  queer  religious  sect "  preaching  Calvinism 
and  singing  "  Rouse,"  it  appears  very  much  as  if  "  the 
angel  of  the  Lord  were  in  the  midst  of  the  busli,"  especially 
as  it  not  only  is  not  consumed,  but  grows.  It  is  also  a 
curious  fact  that  the  oldest  pastor  of  this  "  queer  religious 
sect "  in  Boston  should  be,  as  he  probably  is,  the  only  Pres- 
byterian minister  in  Massachusetts  who  has  with  prayer, 
opened  the  Supreme  Court  of  a  State  in  which,  from  the 
first,  "an  Athenian  democracy  was  in  its  mould,"  and  yet 
be  unknown  to  or  ignored  by  the  press  of  the  cities. 

His  residence  is  opposite  to  the  court  house  of  Middlesex 
county  in  East  Cambridge,  and  as  another  at  the  appointed 
time  did  not  appear,  on  request,  he  led  the  court,  bar  and 
jur}'^  to  the  throne  of  grace  in  prayer,  that  wdsdom  might 
descend  upon  "  the  powers  that  be."  On  his  part  here 
there  was  no  intense  bigotry,  although  he  belongs  to  that 
"queer  religious  sect"  which  are  now  owned  more  exten- 
sively in  Boston  by  the  Head  of  the  church  than  any 
other  in  maintaining  the  Calvinism  of  the  Pilgrims  and 
Puritans,  which  in  former  generations  made  New  England 
"a  praise  in  the  earth." 


IN    NEW   ENGLAND. 


475 


7)1  Vermont.  Since  1808,  at  Rj/egate,  the  Rev.  James  ^r. 
Boattie  continues  to  olHciate  acceptably,  seeing  the  ]ileasure 
ot"  the  Lord  still  prospering  in  his  hand.  He  returns  in 
A.  D.  1881  a  roll  of  69  members ;  Rev.  J.  C.  Taylor,  East 
Craftsbury,  69;  Rev.  D.  C.  Faris,  Barnet,  79;  Rev.  J.  C.  K. 
Faris,  Topsham,  37  ;  Rev.  W.  R.  Laird,  St.  Johnsbury,  63 ; 
total,  317  members. 


Conclusion. 

If  we  have  done  well — Semi-separatists — Calvin — Great  person 

sbvteri 


ill 


dental 


Th 


•h  poli 


-Pre 


s — A  few 
-In  wor- 


points- 
sliip — In  Europe  no  opportunity — Before  they  land  they  establish 
civil  government — What  it  was — The  governor's  message — The  con- 
tract— The  record  in  the  French  church  in  Boston — Thence  taken  an 
loot — An  account  of  it — Mr.  Scott  suggests — Honor  due  to  these  Pres- 
byterians— Their  nanies  the  acorn — Did  not  undertake  to  reform — As 
the  chaplains  did — Nor  trifle — Elder  Brewster — Protecting  their 
homes — In  time  became  assimilated — To  the  Bay  people — To  them  we 
revert — Congregationalism — Where  born — Its  nature  and  tendency — 
Intolerant — Leavening  other  denominations — Unsettling  fixed  truth — 
Its  "unjustifiable  restraints" — Their  polity  sketched — Roger  Wil- 
liams —  Baptists  —  Quakers  —  Papists  —  Episcopal  Methodists — Blas- 
phemy— Voted  the  Trinity  out — Less  aggressive — Adequate  inspira- 
tion— Advanced  thought — Success  of  the  chaplains  among  Episcopal- 
ians— Restraints  on  Presl)yterianism — New  England  system  the 
creature  of  ''circumstances" — Proof — "Sufficiently  divine" — Now 
diflusive — "Tastes" — A  germ — A  delight  to  some — Its  legitimate  de- 
ductions make  an  "  unknown  quantity  " — Not  all  of  darkness — Many 
among  the  elect — Systems  only — Transmitted  from  minds — It  hag 
swept  around  the  circle — Marriage  relation  assailed — Divorce — Com- 
mon— Governor  Andrew — Single  blessedness — Rare  productions — 
Mormonism — Its  origin — Iniluences — A  new  inspiration — "Golden 
tablets" — Smith — Insubordination  increasing — As  a  system  built  on 
"circumstances" — It  imbues  Presbyterianism — Not  multiplying  tlie 
saints — To  the  rear — Its  pew  power — Systen)atized  in  New  York — la 
conclusion — Separating  ourselves — We  should  remember  the  Divine 
origin  of  our  polity — Its  cost  to  others — Its  valuable  influences — This 
is  our  duty — Let  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  future  be  marked 
by  teaching  the  word — An  imperative  necessity — Sabbath  school  may 
be  uncertain — Worse  than  useless — "Sunday  books" — Superficial 
ideas — The  hope — The  parental  vow — Its  meaning — Acting  by  proxy 
— Ignorant — A  subterfuge — Answered — The  right  use  of  a  help  so 
valuable — A  unitary  influence — Seek  to  popularize  services — Singing 
— A  heathen's  view — The  farce — Knox  and  his  singers — Application 
— Depriving  the  masses — Saddening — Some  get  nnisic  to  suit  them 
elsewhere — Mixed  multitudes — Such  acquisitions — Tiie  geiuiine  arti- 
cle— With  these  considerations  we  close — The  scene  not  joyous — After 
an  experiment  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  years — It  impairs  the  force  of 


:..  ' 


il 


476 


HISTORY   OF  PRESBYTERIANISM 


truth — Waxing  feeble — Tliirty-threc  Presbyterian  conprepntions — 
Orthodox,  the  number  of — Losa  in  1880 — Descending  node — I'resby- 
terianifitn  gravitating  also — Said,  not  intrude — Tlie  command  is  go^ 
Bible  not  the  hold  now  on  the  Puritan  mind — If  tiioy  siiould  retire — 
Probabilities — Factory  towns — Fields  for  labor — Eternally  wrong — 
For  anv  measure  of  our  modern  charity — New  England  must  be  re- 
deemed— Duty,  not  success,  is  the  standard — If  it  shoidd  sow  itself 
with  salt — Presbyterianism  nnist  show  "a  more  excellent  way" — 
Errorists  will  not  be  perpetual,  for  the  dominion  under  the  v  hole 
heaven  is  appropriated  to  the  saints  of  the  Most  High,  and  thev  shall 
obey  him — Reader,  farewell — We  must  stand  in  our  lots  in  the  end — 
Let  us  keep  the  faith. 

Such,  then,  is  our  "  History  of  Presbyterianism  in  New 
England."  "  If  we  have  done  well  and  as  is  fitting  the 
Btory,  it  is  that  which  we  desired  :  if  slenderly  and  meanly, 
it  is  that  which  we  could  attain  unto."'  We  have  seen 
"  semi-separatists "  from  the  Church  of  England  banish 
themselves  to  the  continent  of  Europe  for  "  freedom  to 
worship  God,"-  and  there,  after  several  years,  becoming 
deeply  indebted  to  the  '•  Institutes  "  of  the  immortal  Cal- 
vin (and  very  extensively  adopting  his  "sound  doctrine  ") 
for  their  order  of  religious  and  civil  liberty.  For  when  the 
"  agents  went  into  England  to  treat  with  the  Virginia  Com- 
pany and  with  several  groat  j^ersons  about  the  court,  unto 
them  they  made  evident  their  agreement  with  the  French 
Reformed  churches  (Presbyterian)  in  all  things  whatsoever, 
except  in  a  few  small  accidental  points."  {Mag.,  vol.  i., 
p.  48.) 

Imbued  with  these  teachings,  we  see  their  church  polity, 
before  they  cross  the  Atlantic  and  which  they  bring  with 
them,  in  all  but  "a  few  small  accidejital  points"  purely 
Presbyterian.  While  in  worship  they  had  substituted  for 
the  Episcopal  version  of  Sternliold  and  Hopkins  that  of 
Ainsworth,  a  minister  of  their  own  persuasion,  which  they 
continued  to  use  for  sixty  years  in  the  wilderness,  and 
which  they  sang  by  note  without  reading  the  line.  In 
Europe  they  had  no  op])ortunity  of  setting  forth  thoir 
views  of  civil  government,  but  before  they  leave  the 
"MavfloAver"  this  was  done,  and  of  their  action  we  have 
two  accounts. 

"November  11th,  1G20,  Saturday,  being  thus  anived, 
they  fall  on  their  knees  and  bless  the  God  of  heaven,  etc. 
Before  they  land,  they  this  day  combine  into  a  Body  Poll- 


IN   NEW   ENGLAND. 


477 


tick  by  .1  solomn  contract,  to  which  they  sot  their  hands, 
as  the  basis  of  their  jzovcrnnicnt  in  tliis  new  found  coun- 
trv ;  chuso  Mr.  John  Carver,  tlieir  governor  for  tiie  tirst 
year."     (Pr.  K  K.  (V/rou.,  p.  78.) 

"At  their  first  arrival,  November  11th,  1620,  they  did  as 
tlie  VkiJU  of  nuturc  itself  directed  them,  innni^tliately  in  the 
liariior  si<fn  an  IiistruincHt,  as  a  foundation  of  tlu'ir  future 
and  needful  government;  wherein  declaring  themselves 
the  loyal  subjects  of  the  Crown  of  England,  they  did  com- 
bine into  a  bodi/  politick  and  solenmly  engage  submission 
and  obedience  to  the  laws,  urdi nances,  acts,  constitutions  and 
officers,  that  from  time  to  time  should  be  thought  most 
convenient  for  the  general  good  of  the  colony.  And  they 
chose  Mr.  John  Carver  their  governor."  {Mag.,  vol.  i., 
p.  '32.) 

"  In  1621,  Mr.  \\  illiam  Bradford  was  elected  governor, 
with  five  assistants,  which  ottice,  (with  the  exception  of 
three  years  l)y  Mr.  Winslow  and  two  by  Mr.  Prince  to  re- 
lieve him),  he  held  for  thirty-seven  years,  and  died  on 
Mav  9th,  1657,  in  the  sixty-ninth  year  of  his  age."  {Mag., 
vol."  i.,  pp.  113,  114.) 

"  March  28d,  1628,  was  a  yearly  court  day,  the  Governor 
communicates  his  intelligence  (in  modern  ])hraseology 
'  delivers  his  message ')  to  the  whole  company,  and  asks 
their  advice.  They  leave  it  to  him,  with  his  assistants 
and  the  captain  (of  their  military.  Miles  Standish),  to  do 
as  they  think  most  meet."  This  was  in  the  midst  of  a, 
war  with  the  Indians.  Of  the  "  Contract,"  or  "  Instru- 
ment," and  of  the  yearly  transactions  of  his  government, 
lie  kept  a  record,  which,  a  century  or  so  after  his  death, 
was  conveyed  to  Boston,  and  there  appropriately  de- 
posited in  the  French  Presbyterian  meeting-house. 

This  fact  is  brought  to  notice  in  the  last  quarter  of  the 
nineteenth  century. 

"  The  Chamberlain  of  the  city  of  London,  the  Hon.  Ben- 
jamin Scott,  writes  to  the  Times,  saying : 

'"In  the  Bishop  of  London's  library  at  Fulham,  is  a 
manuscript  in  the  handwriting  of  Governor  Bradford, 
giving  a  diar\'  of  the  ])roceedings  of  the  Pilgrims,  contain- 
ing the  Compact  or  Constitution,  out  of  which  arose  the 
federation  now  termed  the  United  States.  It  was  captured 
as  booty  by  a  soldier  from  the  old  French,  (Scott  says 


I  i- 


478 


HISTORY  OP  prp:sbyteriamsm 


German)  churcli  in  T^oston,an(l  forms  the  "Book  of  (xene- 
His"  of  the  Anicricim  Niitinu.'  'Mr.  Scott  sii;fi,'c.sts,  that 
in  the  midst  of  our  nation;il  sorrow,  it  l^e  |»rescnt('(l  in  the 
name  of  the  tiuccn  to  the  rnitcMl  States  at  tiie  Yorktowu 
(Vntcnnial,  on  Oetoher  IDth,  1S81.'"  {Phila.  Led.,  Oct. 
()th,  1S81.)* 

So  much  lionor  is  due  to  tliose  old  psaliH-sinj^Mn<jj  Pres- 
byterian C'alvinists,  anil  this  " solenm  ('out met,"'  Governor 
Jiradford  <i;ives  us  in  the  following  words: 

"  In  the  name  of  (iotl,  Amen.  We,  whose  names  are 
underwritten,  the  loyal  suhjects  of  our  dread  soverei<rn 
liord  Kin<!;  Jumoi,  by  the  L'raee  of  God,  of  (Jreat  liritain, 
France  and  Ireland,  King,  Defender  of  the  Faith,  etc.,  etc. 
Having  imdertaken,  for  the  glory  of  God,  and  advance- 
ment of  the  Christian  faith,  and  honour  of  our  King  and 
country,  a  voyag(!  to  plant  the  lirst  colony  in  the  northern 
parts  of  Virginia;  do,  by  these  presents,  solemnly  and 
mutually,  in  the  j)resence  of  (Jod,  and  of  one  another, 
covenant  and  combine  ourselves  together  unto  a  Civil 
Body  Politick,  for  our  better  ordering  and  preservation, 
and  furtherance  of  the  ends  aforesaid;  and  by  virtue 
liercof  to  enact,  constitute  and  frame  such  just  and  e(iu;d 
laws,  ordinances,  acts,  constitutions  and  otlices  from  time 
to  time,  as  shall  be  thought  most  meet  and  convenient  for 
the  general  good  of  the  colony,  unto  which  we  pronnse  all 
due  submission  and  obedience. 

"  Jn  witness  whereof  we  have  hereunder  subscribed  our 
names,  at  Cape  Cod,  the  11th  of  November,  in  the  year  of 
the  reign  of  our  Sovereign  Lord,  King  James,  of  England, 
France  and  Ireland,  the  eighteenth,  and  of  Scotland  the 
fifty-fourth,  Anno  Domini  1C20.     {P.  Chron.,  pp.  84,  8"), ) 

"Mr.  John  Carver,  Wm.  Bradford,  Mr.  Edward  Wins- 
low,  Mr.  William  Brewster,  Mr.  Isaac  Allerton,  Captain 
!Miles  Standish,  John  Alden,  ^Ir.  Samuel  Fuller,  Mr. 
Christopher  Martin,  Mr.  William  MuUins,  Mr.  \\'illiam 
White,  Mr.  Richard  Warren,  John  Howland,  Mr.  Stephen 
Hopkins,  Edward  Tilly,  John  Tilly,  Francis  Cook,  Thomas 
Rogers,  Thomas  Tinker,  John  Ridgdale,  Edward  Fuller, 


*  Mr.  Scott's  suggestion  was  not  acceded  to,  and  in  Hen  of  tliis,  the 
Americans  burnt  gunpowder  in  saluting  the  British  flag  at  that  place 
on  tliat  day. 


IN    NEW   ENGLAND. 


479 


Gono- 

,s,  that 

in  tho 

•ktowii 

L  Oct. 


?  Pres- 
•vernor 


les  aro 
t'eroi<!;u 
Britain, 
tc,  etc. 
Ivaneo- 
n<ji;  and 
:ir  thorn 
Iv  and 
,n  other, 
a  Civil 
L'vation, 
virtiK^ 
[1  equal 
ni  time    . 
ient  tor 
nise  all 

H'd  our 
year  of 
n^lanil, 
md  th." 

,  So. ) 

Wins- 
L'aptain 

■r,  :^Ir. 

'illiani 
kepheii 
rhonias 

1  Fuller, 

this,  the 
[at  place 


John  Turner,  Francis  Eaton,  James  Chilton,  John  Crncks- 
ton,  John  JiiIliu;,'ton,  Moses  FU'teiier,  .Jolm  (loodinan, 
J)e^'orv  Priest,  Tiionias  Williams,  Gilbert  W'inshnv,  Ed- 
mund Margc'son,  Peter  Brown,  Richard  Britterij^e,  (Jeor;.io 
Soule,  Ivichard  Clarke,  Richard  (iardiner,  John  Allerton, 
Thomas  English,  Edward  Dotey,  Edward  Leister."    41. 

"One  hundred  and  one  left  En^dand.  Of  these,  sixty 
were  women  and  children.  One  man  died  on  the  passage, 
and  Peregrine  White  was  born  in  Cape  Cod  harbor.  Ful- 
ler, >V\arrcn  and  Cook  left  their  wives  in  Holland  or  Eng- 
land, and  some  left  behind  them  smne,  and  others  all  their 
children,  wiio  also  afterwards  came  over."     (7V.,  p.  85.) 

Such  was  the  acorn  of  Calvin istic  Presbyterianism  from 
Avhich  the  Americi'  jak  grew.  These  men  did  not  under- 
take to  reform  the  (.'hurch  of  England,  as  the  two  pioneer 
chaplains  and  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Company  afterwards 
did,  neither  did  they  trifle  with  the  divinely  aj)pointed 
ordinance  of  ecclesiastical  ordination  by  the  "laying  on 
of"  other  "hands,"  instead  of  those  of  a  lawfully  con- 
stituted "  Presbytery." 

Elder  William  Brewster,  a  chief  father  in  their  Israel 
for  nearly  forty  years,  while  he  "  labored  in  word  and  doc- 
trine," "  never  assumed  to  administer  the  sacraments." 
"  When  they  were  unsup])lied  with  a  regular  ministry,  ho 
preached  to  his  people  powerfully  and  prolitably  twice 
every  Sabbath,  and  many  Avere  converted  to  God  by  his 
faithful  ministry."  While  he  was  an  ordained  ruling 
elder,  he  would  never  act  the  peculiar  part  of  an  ordained 
minister.  The  seals  of  tlie  covenant  of  grace  he  would  not 
dispense.  This  duty  he  left  to  be  performed  by  "a  regu- 
larly ordained  ministry."  This  peoj)le,  coming  from  Ley- 
den  in  three  successive  emigrations,  protecting  their  homes 
from  savage  men,  as  tillers  of  the  soil,  and  occupiers  in  a 
limited  commerce  in  their  three  counties,  after  two  or 
three  generations  became  extensively  assimilated  to  those 
who  followed  them  by  thousands  to  the  Bay,  for  religion 
and  commerce.     They  had  no  alternative. 

To  these  we  now  revert,  and  here  find  tlie  origin,  nature 
and  tendency  of  Congregationalism.  Born  at  Salem, 
Massachusetts,  on  August  Gth,  1629,  bred  under  an  Athen- 
ian democracy  at  Boston.    Confederated  in  its  theocracy 


I!' 

"    i 


?3 


480 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIAXTSM 


with  "  the  Kino:  of  Kinp:s,"  intolerant  of  other  Christian 
persuasions,  while  it  liad  or  has  its  own  civil  pc>wer  to 
control  their  church  pro{)erty  or  persons,  and  now  leavening 
other  denominations  with  its  modern  New  England  theol- 
ogy, and  extensively  unsettling  the  foundations  of  fixed 
religious  truth,  not  only  in  its  own  cradle,  under  its  own 
hanner,  but  increasingly  under  both  Presbyterianism  and 
Prelacy. 

►So  palpable  have  tiiese  tbiings  been,  that  a  President  of 
Andierst  Col'  :e,  in  1850,  has  before  the  Legislature  on 
January  2d,  p. it  on  record  this  ajiology:  '' Whatever  un- 
justifiable restraints  on  liberty  of  conscience  may  have 
been  imjiosed  by  our  zealous,  yet  erring  fathers,  il  is  the 
glory  of  our  Commonwealth,  that  no  sucli  impositions 
have  been,  for  a  long  time,  tolerated.  All  are  free  to  wor- 
ship God  as  they  choose,  provided,  tliey  demean  them- 
selves peaceably,  and  infringe  not  the  ecpal  rights  of 
others. 

Tne  reader  must  remember  fto  say  nothing  of  anything 
else),  that  the  tliird  volume  of  '"Gray's  Reports ''  was  not 
then  written.  The  first  decision  therein  recorded  is  no 
"glory"  to  the  "Commonwealth."  Both  the  civil  and  re- 
ligious polity  of  this  people  we  have  sketched. 

"  Unjustifiable  restraints  "  were  from  the  first  imposed 
on  others  by  them.  This  was  the  belief  of  the  two  ])lan- 
ters,  the  lawyer  and  merchant,  wlio  were  "  eonvented  be- 
fore and  re-shipped  to  England  by  the  Governor;  "  this  w;is 
the  belief  of  Roger  \\'illiams,  when  he  left  the  Episco})al 
church  in  England,  was  initiated  and  became  a  preaclier 
of  the  new  order  of,  and  at,  Salem,  until  1036,  when,  being 
forced  out  of  the  colony,  he  went  to  Rhode  Island,  was 
converted  by  a  ^Irs.  Scott,  a  sister  to  Mrs.  Hutchinson, 
that  "she-wolf  of  antinomianism."  (Christian  Obser., 
March,  1849,  p.  140.)  "  ^\'as  innnersed  by  one  Holman  and 
forthwith  innnersed  Holman  and  nine  others,  and  in 
about  three  months  renounced  this  baptism."  (7/).) 

"Unjustifiable  restraints  on  tlie  liberty  of  conscience" 
of  this  people,  who  differed  from  themselves  only  on  the 
mode  and  one  half  of  the  subjects  of  baptism  were  re- 
moved by  the  Bay  Colony  Puritans  in  so  far  that  tliey 
were  allowed  to  form  a  Ba])tist  church  in  Boston  in  1G64. 
At  the  expiration  of  the  charter,  in  1G8G,  the  Episcoi3a- 


IN    NEW   ENGLAND. 


481 


istian 
or  to 
ening 
theol- 
fixcd 
s  own 
11  and 

ent  of 
ire  on 
er  im- 
r  have 
;  is  the 
isitions 
to  wor- 
theni- 
hts   of 

lythinp; 
kvas  not 
:l  is  no 
and  re- 

mpo?od 
0  ])lan- 
Ited  be- 
his  wa^ 
|nsco]»al 
Ircaohrr 
[.being 
|uL  was 
Ihinson, 
Ob.^er., 
lan  and 
Imd    in 

3ionce  " 
on  the 
rero  re- 
lit they 
In  1G64. 
liscopa- 


lians  were  permitted  to  orpjanizo  a  church,  and  the  Friends 
to  liold  their  "  meetinf,^s  "  in  1710, 

Toward  tlie  close  of  tlie  eighteenth  century  Prelacy  ob- 
tained a  further  foothold  in  Boston.  The  Roman  Catho- 
lics opened  their  lirst  place  of  worship  in  1789.  The 
E])iscopal  Methodists  began  in  1795, 

Up  till  178G  the  theocracy  of  the  Bay  State  deemed  it 
})laspl)emy  to  deny  the  Trinity.  At  this  date  the  spirit 
of  change  became  an  element  of  their  Athenian  democracy, 
and  a  society,  controlling  King's  Episco])al  chapel,  by 
schism  voted  it,  in  1785,  into  line  witli  the  Colonial  church 
polity,  and  tlien  voted  the  Trinity  out  of  it.  Henceforth, 
as  tlie  s[)irit  of  the  land,  this  polity  became  less  aggres- 
sive, and  "unjustifial)le  restraints"  less  numerous,  as  this 
article  of  thc.'ir  theocratic  faith,  ceased  to  be  believed,  as 
th.e  Holy  Scri])tures  came  to  be  viewed  as  only  of  adequate 
and  not  of  ])lenarv  inspiration.  The  faitii  of  the  godly 
had  now  to  contend  with  the  "'advanced  thought"  of  tlie 
Athenians.  As  the  Bay  colony  and  their  pioneer  cha))- 
lains  aimed  at  reforming  their  mother  church,  they  and 
their  successors  have  succeeded  in  controlling  the  pew 
patronage  of  tlie  parish,  in  making  some  parts  of  the  "ser- 
vice" less  conformable  to  her  canon  law,  while  her  "Broad 
church"  designates  that  portion  of  Protestant  Prelacy, 
which,  while  assailed  and  cherished  by  (lernian  doubts 
and  negations,  slakes  her  thirst  for  the  forbidden  in  the 
overflowing  New  England  fountain  of  adequate  inspira- 
tion. 

The  record  of  the  "unjustifiable  restraints "  placed  on 
Presbyterianism,  not  only  by  tlie  "zealous,  yet  erring 
fathers  "  among  the  Puritans,  but  also  by  their  ecclesias- 
tical successors,  form  no  inconsiderable  part  of  the  history 
both  of  the  colony  and  of  the  State, 

Of  these,  from  the  necessity  and  demand  of  truth,  Ave 
have  recorded  not  a  few  of  the  more  ]irominent  in  refer- 
ence to  the  liberty  of  tiieir  persons,  the  freedom  of  their 
consciences,  tlie  sacredness  of  their  churches,  and  the 
gravestone  of  their  dead. 

To  trace  and  understand  the  genius  of  the  New  England 
system,  we  must  remember  that  it  is  the  creature  of  cir- 
cumstances. It  does  not,  as  we  have  shewn  that  the 
Presbyterian  polity  does,  begin  at  Jerusalem,  and  declare 
31 


.  I 


482 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


i§ 


ii:i 


..it 


"  Nobody  has  yot  appeared  wlio  could  prove  that  we  liave 
altered  any  one  thing  which  God  has  commanded,  or  tliat 
we  have  appointed  any  new  thing  contrary  to  his  word,  or 
that  we  liave  turned  aside  from  the  trutli  to  follow  any 
evil  opinion "  (Calvin),  but  it  builds  its  usages  on  cir- 
cumstances. 

Hence  says  the  Boston  Christian  Obscrvatorij  (No.  S,  vol. 
1,  August,  1847),  ''Tliat  the  germ  of  Congregationalism  is 
found  in  the  New  Testament  can  l^e  believed,  witliout 
su])posing  that  this  particular  system  of  church  polity,  or 
any  other,  was  fully  developed  in  all  its  i)arts  during  the 
lifetime  of  the  apostles,  without  even  suj)i)osing  that  this, 
or  any  other,  was  intended  to  be  a  distinct  subject  of  di- 
vine legislation.  '  It  sh(Uild  be  suflicient  authoritv  for  anv 
ecclesiastical  usage,  if  the  principles  of  the  gosjiel  carried 
into  consistent  practice  amid  all  the  circumstances 
which  Providence  has  arranged  shall  naturally  and  ne- 
cessarily bring  in  that  usage.  Henco  the  manner  in 
which  Congregationalism  took  its  rise  in  Ncav  England 
renders  it  sufficiently  divine." 

Consequently  vitalized,  nurtured  and  defended  by  "cir- 
cumstances," its  early  intolerance  under  its  theocracy  be- 
comes under  its  ever-al)iding  Athenian  democracy  dill'u- 
sive,  productive,  prolific  and  permeating,  when  the  sword 
of  Gideon  is  not  fully  sustained  by  the  sword  of  the  Lord. 
It  makes  attractive  such  forms  of  religion  as  will  gratify 
the  "  tastes  "  of  men. 

Hence  in  accounting  in  the  pan-Methodist  conference  in 
London,  in  1881,  for  their  unsurpassed  denominational 
growth,  a  speaker  declared  "  the  secret  is  that  our  system 
and  usages  are  such  as  suit  more  extensively  than  any 
others  the  '  tastes '  of  the  American  people."  Hence 
the  Philadelphia  Methodist  Episcopal  Conference  at  Potts- 
ville,  Pa.,  on  March  19th,  1881,  adopted,  as  a  matter  of 
taste,  the  reading  of  their  sermons,  a  custom  abominated 
by  the  denomination  for  above  a  century,  and  their  Dr. 
Taylor,  of  Chicago,  has  so  fully  conformed  to  the  New 
England  orthodox  "  tastes  "  in  his  doctrines,  that  they  have 
justly  cast  him  out  of  their  fellowship. 

This  eclectic  operation  of  substituting  a  supposed 
"  New  Testament  germ," generated  in  the  minds  of  theorists 
from  time  to  time  as  sullicient  authority  in  the  room  of 


IN  NEW   ENGLAND. 


483 


e  have 
or  tVuit 
ord,  or 
)W  any 
on  cir- 

.  8,  vol. 
ilism  is 
without 
olity,  or 
•ing  ilio 
:iat  this, 
;t  of  (li- 

for  any 
1  carried 
nstam-es 

and  ny- 
mner  in 
Enghmd 


by  "cir- 

n-acy  he- 

Lcy  dilTu- 

he  sword 

he  Lord. 

11  gratify 

ference  in 
linational 
lu'  system 
Ihan  any 
Hence 
at  Totts- 
Jnatter  of 
lominated 
Itheir  Dr. 
the  New 
|:hey  have 

|supposcd 
theorists 
room  of 


"  the  oracles  of  God,"  has  made  modern  Congregationalism 
extensively  the  delight  of  those  who  are  "ever  learning, 
and  never  able  to  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth," 

Nay,  in  its  legitimate  deductions  it  makes  the  existence 
of  "  the  trutli  a?  it  is  in  Jesus  "  sometimes  at  least  "an  un- 
known quantity  "  in  promoting  the  glory  of  God,  and  in 
making  tlie  calling  and  election  of  the  soul  of  any  man 
sure.  By  this  it  is  not  to  be  understood  that  all  who  sus- 
tain and  propagate  this  polity  are  the  children  "of  tlie 
night  or  of  darkness."  Many  of  them,  despite  their 
only  partially  scriptural  system,  are  among  "tljc  elect  of 
God,"  spending  and  being  spent  for  his  glory,  and  "bear- 
ing the  image  of  the  heavenly."  Let  it  be  remembered 
that  "  the  question  is  always,  not  whetli  accomplish- 
ments and  virtues  and  piety  exist  within  tl.'s  or  that  sys- 
tem, but  simply  whether  the  system  itself  be  good  or 
evil." 

These  attainments  in  the  divine  life,  however,  are  not 
the  exclusive  productions  of  modern  New  England  the- 
olog3\  They  are  extensively  transmitted  from  those 
minds  which  for  above  a  century  believed,  lived  under 
and  taught  for  doctrine  the  form  of  sound  words  contained 
in  the  "Confession  of  Faith,  owned  and  consented  to  at 
Boston  on  .May  12th,  1680." 

Our  modern  Congregationalism  has  so  far  swept  around 
the  circle  from  the  doctrines  and  morality  of  the  Puritans, 
that  the  very  foundation  of  domestic  life,  the  marriage  re- 
lation, is  assailed  by  the  ease  with  which  a  divorce  can  be 
obtained,  and  by  which  the  supply  stimulates  the  de- 
mand. 

That  which  was  once  in  "  the  land  of  steady  habits"  of 
rare  occurrence,  and  mentioned  only  with  shame,  has  be- 
come fearfully  common,  about  every  twelfth  marriage  pro- 
ducing a  divorce.  Hence  also  says  the  Boston  Daily 
Globe  of  ^lay,  18V9 :  "  In  1865  Governor  Andrew  smd  the 
Rev.  Charles  Beecher  extensively  broke  down  the  Massa- 
chusetts law  of  divorce.  Now  lawyers  have  a  large  prac- 
tice in  divorcing."  Consequently  for  years  the  New  Eng- 
land bureau  of  divorce  has  been  so  plied  by  those  whose 
heart's  desire  is  to  return  to  "  single  blessedness,"  that  at 
times  for  months  they  have  to  "  wait  tlieir  turn." 

Beyond  this,  the  structure  of  domestic  life  which  under 


484 


HISTORY  OF  rRESBYTERIANISM 


"  the  social  compact "  in  Nc\v  England  has  sprung  up,  at 
times  presents  rare  productions. 

The  United  States,  so  far  as  modesty  and  a  sense  of 
shame  remain,  are  hinnbled  by  the  presence  and  growth 
of  one  of  the  most  loathsome,  leprous  sights  on  earth, 
•when,  under  pretense  of  obeying  the  will  of  that  holy 
God  who  niadc  man  in  his  own  likeness,  male  and  female, 
"lewd  fellows  of  the  baser  sort "  have  successfully  st't  up 
polygamy  as  the  essence  of  holiness.  Not  only  is  the  fear 
of  God  proportional)ly  gone,  but  national  patriotism  is 
assailed,  as  in  fifty  years  they  have  three  territories  exten- 
sively under  tlieir  control. 

These  self-styled  "  latter  day  saints  "  are  most  success- 
fully compassing  "  sea  and  land  "  to  make  ])roselytes.  On 
the  "  centennial "  day  of  the  battle  of  Yorktown,  twenty- 
four  of  their  teachers  sailed  for  Europe,  and  the  disgrace  is 
deepened  by  the  consideration  that  these  were  led  by  a 
Scotchman,  and  five  days  afterward  four  hundred  of  their 
latter  day  saints  landed  in  New  York. 

By  gathering,  as  they  do,  the  deluded  and  the  vile  from 
the  remote  parts  of  the  earth,  they  can  more  hopefully, 
when  backed  by  multitudes,  present  resistance  to  our  civil 
government. 

They  plead  for  freedom  of  conscience  in  what  they  call 
religious  worship,  under  the  pretense  that  their  "  Book  of 
Mormon  "  is  by  them  placed  on  a  level  with  the  Bible  as 
a  supplementary  book.  While  their  prophet  and  member 
in  Congress  are  both  Englishmen,  the  abomination  sprang 
fron^  New  England  nnnd  directed  by  a  new  inspiration  to 
Ihem  "  sufficiently  divine," 

"  The  Mormon  church  commenced  April  6th,  a.  d.  1830, 
at  Fayette,  Seneca  county.  New  York.  It  was  organized 
by  three  Smiths,  two  Whitmers  and  one  Coudrey,  six  in 
all,  actuated  by  him  who  "is  transformec'  as  an  angel  of 
light."  Of  the  two  Whitmers  one  was  cdled  David.  He 
was  the  friend  and  confidant  of  Joseph  Smith,  and  prom- 
inently identified  with  the  Mormon  movement  until 
])olygamy  and  other  questionable  practices  were  intro- 
duced as  a  part  of  the  saint's  faith.  He  then  settled  in 
Richmond,  Kay  county,  Mo.  He  lived  in  New  York 
State  when  the  golden  tablets  of  "  the  book  of  Mormon  " 
were  founds  and  has  the  only  manuscript  copy  made  of 


IN   NEW   ENGLAND. 


485 


Lip,  at 

ise  of 
rowth 
earth, 
t  holy 
(■male, 
set  up 
he  fear 
Lisni  is 
exten- 

lUCcess- 
2S.  On 
Lwenty- 
igrace  is 
3d  by  a 
of  their 

ile  from 

mefiiUy, 

ur  civil 

bey  call 

Book  of 

ible  as 

nember 

sprang 

ition  to 

ID.  1830, 
rganized 
six  in 
[ngel  of 
id.     He 
]d  prom- 
it   until 
16   intro- 
Ittled  in 
Iv   York 
lornion  " 
Inado  of 


the  inscriptions  npon  tliem  in  existence,  and  is  the  only 
living  witness  of  the  authenticity  of  tlieir  book. 

lie  and  Ids  son  David  (who  eomniunicates  these  state- 
ments) "regard  the  book  as  one  of  the  su]iplen)entary 
books,"  as  much  entitled  to  be  revered  with  the  Bible  as 
any  book  of  the  Bible  itself,  and  that,  while  they  acknowl- 
edge tluit  polygamy  and  kindred  ahuses  which  havo 
cre])t  into  the  Mormon  religion  are  the  abhorrence  of  all 
intelligent  citizens. 

Joseph  Smith  and  the  late  lion.  Stephen  A.  Douglas 
(it  is  said)  hailed  from  the  same  town  in  Vermont.  In 
the  varied  parts  of  our  union  "  the  S})irit  of  the  age  "  is 
manifested  by  increasing  insubordination,nnd  nothing  but  a 
proper  knowledge  of  "  the  higher  law  "  and  obedience  to  it 
will  teach  men  to  ''  nmder  to  all  their  dues," 

Modern  Congregationalism,  as  a  religious  s^'stem,  having 
its  foundation  on  the  circumstances  and  place  of  its  birth, 
extensively  indjues  Presbyterianism.  Look  into  any  di- 
vision of  it,  and,  with  few  exceptions,  you  find  it  so, 
causing  its  youth  to  fret  at  its  own  .scriptural  authority, 
controverting  its  own  former  sound  doctrine,  and  re- 
ducing its  own  originally  "  })ure  olfernig  "  of  praise  in  mat- 
ter and  in  manner  down  ("in  too  many  cases  at  least)  to 
an  artificial  and  ephemeral  entertainment.  By  intro- 
ducing and  adopting  these  New  England  innovations,  our 
escutcheon  is  blurred,  our  original  identity  is  lost,  and 
where  to  a  surrounding  world  w'o  should  arise  and  shine, 
for  there  remains  yet  very  much  land  to  bo  ])ossessed, 
"  Ephraim  envies  .Judah  and  Judah  vexes  Ephraim." 

Numerically,  we  are  not  multii)lying  the  saints  as 
PresV)yterians  in  former  days  have  done,  and  relatively  our 
polity  is  retiring  to  the  rear.  "  These  things  ought  not  so  to 
be."  In  the  meantime  our  church  property,  is  occasionally 
absorbed  by  tins  neighbor. 

Not  only  in  scores  of  ])laces  in  New'  England  by  a  ma- 
jority of  the  pew-owners  has  it  done  this,  but  in  New 
York  its  spoliation  is  provided  for  by  civil  law,  so  that  "  any 
church  or  religious  society,  it  is  said,  may  safely  become 
Congregational  by  observing  cautions  "  recorded  on  jxiges 
128,  129,  in  Burk''s  Masmichusetts  EcdcsHixVnd  Law.  In 
conclusion,  separating  ourselves  from  Prelacy  in  all  its 
forms,   and   Congregationalism   in  its    ramifications,    wo 


486 


HISTORY   OF   PRESBYTERIANISM 


sliould  all,  under  our  cjcncral  name  Presbyterian,  remem- 
ber tlio  divine  origin  of  our  i)olity,  tlie  costly  transmission 
of  it  to  us,  our  own  usefulness  in  our  ireneration,  the  Ix'st 
interests  of  our  children,  the  peace  of  our  land,  the  salva- 
tion of  the  lost,  the  honor  of  Christ  and  the  ,:dory  of  CJod. 
I'his  is  our  duty.  "  Let  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  the 
future  (in  all  her  divisions)  be  marked  abov.3  all  by  this, 
that  her  ministers  are  teacliers  of  the  Word  in  the  pulpit, 
in  Bil)le  classes,  in  the  Sabbath  school,  '  and  from  house 
to  house; '  let  her  peoj)le  l)e  thorouj^li  in  their  knowledge 
of  the  Scriptures — let  her  prayers,  lier  sermons,  lier  litera- 
ture be  rich  in  Scripture  truth,  and  her  energies  will  be 
little  wasted,  and  her  time  little  consumed  in  those  '  de- 
bates '  which  '  do  gender  strifes.' 

"  We  make  no  apology  for  adverting  at  this  point  to  the 
imperative  necessit}'  that  exists  for  securing  for  our  chil- 
dren thorough  scriptural  instruction  in  tlie  Sabbath  school. 
Thousands  have  passed  through  it  with  no  more  knowl- 
edge of  the  Word  than  suffices  for  a,  flippant  allusion  or  a 
profane  reference.  The  church  must  see  to  it  that  the 
word  of  her  God  be  taught  her  young  members,  or  they 
will  be  practically  ignorant  of  it." 

"  Nor  is  it  at  all  certain  that  their  attendance  on  the 
Sabbath  school  is  an  adequate  remedy.  Many  teachers 
are  incompetent  as  teachers;  and  much  of  the  Sabbath 
school  literature  which  is  superseding  the  reading  (and 
committing)  of  the  Bible  (to  memory)  is  worse  than  use- 
less. It  is  mischievous.  What  can  be  the  effect  of  giving 
children  mere  stories,  with  just  enough  of  the  spice  of  re- 
ligion to  make  them  '  Sunday  books,'  but  to  drive  them  to 
novels?  For  novelettes  many  of  these  volumes  are,  and 
often  poor  as  such.  There  is  little  reading,  and  no  study 
of  the  Scripture  on  week  days;  and  on  Sabbath  it  is  su])- 
posed  to  be  as  it  should  if  the  children  are  engaged  with 
their  library  books  and  papers,  and  so  they  groAv  to  matu- 
rity with  only  the  most  superficial  ideas  of  the  holy  ora- 
cles. 

"And  at  this  point  let  us  not  suppress  the  hope  that  the 
Catechism  of  the  church  will  receive  increased  attention  in 
the  training  of  the  young,  especially  in  the  family.  If  the 
l)ar(!ntal  vow  to  God  mean  anything,  the  jjarents  bind 
themselves  to  teach  their  offspring  the  doctrines  of  the 
Christian  religion." 


IN    NEW   ENGLAND. 


487 


ncm- 
ssion 
'  best 
;alva- 
(iod. 
if  the 
•  this, 
ulpit, 
house 
rledge 
litera- 
■ill  be 
,0  '  de- 

to  the 
ir  chil- 
■ichool. 
knowl- 
)n  or  a 
lat  the 
)!'  they 

on  the 
achcvs 
abbatli 
g  (and 
n  use- 
giving 
of  re- 
lem  to 
re,  and 
study 

S   SU])- 

kl  with 
ma  fu- 
ll V  ora- 


at  the 

It  ion  in 

If  the 

;   bind 

I  of  the 


In  this  personal  teaoliing  they  themselves  arc  learners, 
for  tliey  cannot  teaeh  what  they  do  not  know.  When 
they  act  by  proxy,  the}''  remain  ignorant  themselves. 
Hence  (in  our  age  of  improvement),  were  we  to  ask 
thousands  of  prolV'ssing  Presbyterian  Christians,  "  What 
doctrines  of  the  Cln'istian  reliiiion  have  you  taught  vour 

~  »/  Oft 

children? ''  we  should  get  no  satisfactory  answer.  A  com- 
mon sul)terfugc  is,  "  The  Catechism  is  liard."  So  is  the 
muUiplieatioii  table,  and  by  a  beginner  just  as  little  under- 
stood; he  learns  ])oth  only  as  a  mere  exercise  of  memory. 
"  It  is  so  with  much  of  the  education  of  every  one  of  us. 
Common  sense,  observation  and  lidelity  to  our  vows 
all  coml)ine  to  urge  upon  Presbyterian  parents  the  right 
and  conscientious  use  of  a  help  so  valuable  in  giving  to 
the  young  members  of  our  churches  a  competent  knowledge 
of  the  doctrines  of  the  Christian  religion."  If  our  divisions 
are  (>ver  to  be  healed,  a  leading  unitary  influence  will  be, 
"coming  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,"  the  "one  faith" 
through  our  "  form  of  sound  words,"  and  one  system 
of  logic,  l)y  "saying  the  Catechism."  To  the  above  cogent 
statements,  taken  from  "The  Presbvtcrian  Church  Through- 
out the  World,  1874,"  I  further  add : 

"  In  order  to  realize  this  high  object,  and  become  a  yet 
greater  power  for  good  in  the  country,  we  doubt  not  the 
church  of  the  future  will  seek  in  a  higher  degree  to  poini- 
larize  her  services.  And  this,  avc  apprehend,  will  be  done, 
not  so  much  by  the  adoption  of  new,  as  by  the  resumption 
of  former  metliods. 

"  Take,  for  example,  the  subject  of  singing  in  divine  ser- 
vice. In  many  churches  this  noble  function  of  the  church 
has  been  relegated  to  a  few  persons,  and  the  appearance  a 
congregation  present?  to  an  observant  heathen  would  be 
that  of  a  body  of  people  in  a  large  building,  at  one  end  of 
which,  on  an  eminence  al)ove  the  people,  a  man  does  all 
tlie  })raying  and  talking,  and  at  the  other  end  of  which 
three  or  ft)ur  others,  at  a  greater  elevation,  do  all  the  prais- 
ing. Musical  faculty  and  moral  worth  do  not,  unhappily, 
always  go  together;  and  where  the  '  voices '  in  the  sing- 
ers' gallery  disport  themselves  in  the  intervals  of  their  per- 
formance in  a  way  more  like  their  week-day  tlian  their 
Sabbath  spheres,  the  farce  is  turned  into  an  abomination. 

"  We  shall  live,  let  us  hope,  to  see  this  thing  banished 


488 


IIISTOUY    OF    ritllSIiYTEUTANISM 


from  evangelical  clnirelies.  All  the  history  of  Protestant- 
ism (and  especially  of  unmixed  Preshyttn-innism)  is 
against  it.  To  say  nothing  fartiior  of  the  JIugnenots  and 
the  Pilgrims,  'Knox  had  the  Seottish  ])eopio  tanglit  to 
praise  God  so  thoroughly,  that  a  mass  meeting  could  sing 
a  psalm  through  without  books,  and  in  the  ''  parts  "  of  the 
melody.' 

"Application,  under  the  Divine  blessing,  will  do  this  any- 
where among  our  apostate  race.  '  The  spectacle  of  a 
church  claiming  to  win  the  masses,  and  taking  from  them 
the  only  portion  of  ])ul)lie  worship  in  wiiieh  they  can  all 
unite,  would  be,  if  not  so  sai'.dening,  siijiremely  ridiculous.' 

"It  is  idle  to  say  that  certain  iK'oj)le  get  music  of  tho 
highest  order  elsewhere,  and  if  they  cannot  have  it  in  the 
church  they  will  not  come.  Tlie  i)atrons  of  the  o[)era  and 
theatre  have  never  been  of  so  much  real  value  in  tho 
church  as  to  be  worth  consulting,  and  least  of  all  should 
devout  and  serious  worshi[)p(n"s  1)0  wrongi.'d  and  driven 
iiway  for  the  {esthetic  satisfaction  of  casual  and  ))atronizing 
visitors  to  the  services.  Let  Israel  worsliip  Clod  as  he  has 
appointed,  and  let  the  '  mixed  multitude '  follow  or  keep 
away. 

"  The  army  of  the  Lord  is  not  t'.  change  its  plans  for  the 
idle  pleasure  of  the  camp  followers.  And  it  is  in  vain  to 
think  of  winning  the  world  bv  mere  music.  What  is  the 
value  to  any  church  of  such  acquisitions?  The  week-day 
entertainments  supply  the  genuine  article,  and  without 
making  the  church  an  actual  theatre,  you  cannot  compete 
Avith  them." 

With  these  considerations  we  close  our  history.  The 
scene  is  not  joyous,  and  did  we  see  the  native  religion 
maintain  its  pristine  jnirity  in  doctrine  and  worship,  we 
might  "  thank  God  and  take  courage."  But  when  we  now 
lind  that  after  an  exjieriment  of  above  two  hundred  and 
fifty  years  this  l)oiity  not  only  produces  "divers  and 
strange  doctrines,"  but  impairs  the  force  of  truth  among 
other  sects  as  they  borrow  from  it,  and  is  waxing  feeble  for 
self-protection  and  perpetuity  on  its  own  soil,  it  is  other- 
wise. Among  above  four  millions  one  hundred  thousand 
people  in  New  England,  we  have  after  one  hundred  ami 
ninety  years  only  of  the  badgered  Presbyterians  about 
thirty  three  congregations,  nearly  all  feel)le,  yet  we  find 


IN    NEW   ENGLAND. 


489 


tiioso  wlio  on  the  same  soil  placed  them  under  "  imjustifia- 
blo  restniints,"  in  a  condition  })roi)ortionably  s})iiitually 
unliealthy. 

Tiiey  report  a  nieml)crship  of  213,978  (of  whom  ;]3,253 
are  absent),  or  al)out  on(>-nim'teenth  of  the  poi)ulation, 
with  a  loss  of  ei,i,'ht  humh'ed  and  forty-six  members  in 
New  Enj.dand  in  a.  d.  1880.  They  are  thus,  on  their  native 
Boil,  in  the  descending!;  node,  and  proportionally,  as  Pres- 
bytcriiins  are  found  thn)U,!j:hout  the  land,  assimilated  to 
them  in  doctrine  and  in  worship,  u>in,<;  their  losijic,  em- 
l)loying  their  vocabulary,  imitatin.i;  their  customs  and  ob- 


servms  tlien-  usages,  tliey  are  gravitating  with  about  ec^ual 
velocity. 

It  has  been  said  i)hilosophically  that  where  "the  people 
of  a  locality  look  around,  see  how  well  a  system  works 
elsewhere  and  set  it  up,  it  will  grow,"  that  consequently 
until  the  New  Englanders  do  this,  Presbyterians  should 
not  intrude. 

liut  the  command  is,  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and 
preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature."  Judging  from  what 
is  desired  and  prospers  in  New  England,  Presbyterians 
should  retire,  for  among  Congregational  forms  of  thought 
they  can  have  but  little  hope,  especially  as  the  Bible  has 
not  the  hold  on  the  modern,  which  it  had  on  the  Puritan 
mind. 

ytill,  wliat  then  if  they  should  retire?  Presbyterians 
wisely  o:  unwisely  domicile  in  the  region,  and  if  not  cared 
for,  they  will  likely  become  "  an  increase  of  sinful  men." 

The  factory  towns  here  afford  fields  for  faithful  gospel 
labor,  not  much,  if  any,  inferior  to  other  regions,  and  it 
will  be  eternally  wrong  to  allow  Popery  and  infidelity  to 
carry  back  and  obliterate  the  Christian  civilization  of  "the 
New  England  Primer  "  lor  any  measure  of  our  modern 
Juab  and  Amasa  charity.  New  England  must  yet  be 
redeemed  by  coming  to  "  the  knowledge  of  the  truth  as  it 
is  in  Jesus,"  and  Presbyterians  must  make  the  experiment 
of  assisting  in  the  work,  whether  they  succeed  or  fail. 

Duty,  not  success,  is  the  standard  of  our  encouragement 
and  accountability. 

ICven  if  this  highly  favored  region  should  sow  itself  with 
salt  (Judges  ix.  45),  under  attachment  to  what  is  to  it 
"  sufliciently  divine,"  Presbyterians  must  shew  to  New 


i. 


490 


HISTORY   OF    PRESRYTEniANISM. 


England  "a  more  excellent  way."  Ck>ncrations  of  crror- 
ists  iiiay  flourish  on  that  soil,  but  "tiio  kin-zdorn  and  do- 
minion, and  the  <,'reatness  of  the  kin;^'doiu  under  the  whole 
lieaven,  shall  be  given  to  the  i)eoi)le  of  tiie  saints  of  the 
Most  High,  and  all  shall  serve  and  obey  him." 

Reader,  farewell.     We  must  meet  and  stand  each  in  his 
"  lot  in  the  end  of  the  days."    Let  us  keep  "  the  laith." 


'¥ 


APPENDICES. 


A.-— Papre  IG. 


Befork  sliewini?  liow  ''Confrrcfjatioiialism,  by  takiiifj  its  rise 
in  New  Eiif^laiKl,"  is  always  "sullicieiitly  tlivinc,"  it  may  l)e 
well  to  st'e  liow  Presbyterian  ism  anil  Prelacy,  tlie  only  oilier 
cluircli  i)()lities,  originated.  As  there  is  but  ''  one  (Jod.  so  there 
is  one  ^lediator  between  God  and  men,  the  man  Christ  Jesus." 
To  this  otlice  the  Father  ordained  him,  to  administer  all  the 
alTairs  in  the  universe,  to  jud.ife  the  world  in  ri^Iiteousness,  to 
be  the  Jndfye  of  (luicU  and  dead.  When  manifested  ni  the  llesh, 
he  ordained  tv.'<'lve,  and  yav(^  them  power  that  he  Miifjht  sen(l 
them  forth  to  preach.  When  made  "perfect  throu<;h  suffer- 
ing's," before  ascending,'  to  kI^'iT?  the  risen  Saviou.  was  seen 
alive  after  his  passion  by  his  apostles  forty  days,  spe,d<inff  to 
tliem  of  the  things  pertaining  to  the  Kingdom  of  (iod,  its  j)r()- 
l)het  and  his  doctrine,  its  i)riest,  his  altar,  sacrilice.  and  inter- 
cession, its  king,  his  laws  and  subjects,  lie  then  eonnnanded 
the»e  apostles,  whom  he  had  eliosen  and  ordained,  to  make 
Christians  of  all  nations,  teaching  tlu)se  whom  tliey  admitted 
into  fellowship  by  bai)tism,  "to  observe  all  things  whatsoever 
I  have  commanded  you,"  and  as  ye  do  so,  "I  am  with  you 
ahvay  "  by  "another  Con)forter,  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  who  will 
abide  with  you  forever." 

If  we  believe  the  a|)ostles  to  have  been  honest  and  faithful 
men,  we  can  learn  what  Christ  the  King  of  his  church  then 
"  conmianded,"  by  ascertaining,  what  they  taught  all  Christians 
"to  observe." 

We  will  then,  in  "the  mind  of  the  Spirit,"  "  have  the  mind 
of  Christ." 

We  have  by  them,  first,  preaching,  then  conversions,  then 
Christian  baptism  on  and  after,  but  not  before,  the  day  of  Peu- 
tecost.  The  disciples  were  also  taught  that  "  the  law  of  the 
house,"  of  "the  church  of  the  living  God,"  required  "all  things 
to  be  done  decently  and  ni  order." 

To  execute  his  laws,  the  apostles  were  "endued  with  power 
from  on  high,"  not  from  the  one  hundred  and  twenty,  much 
less  from  the  people  or  the  members,  even  when  multitudes 
were  "added  to  the  church." 

(491) 


492 


ArrENDICES. 


As.  nnrlpr  tlio  infliioncps  of  unsanctifird  Imman  natnro,  na- 
tional prcjurlicis  1m'ji[;iii  to  iiiav  licr  iicacc,  l>y  snitposcd  pai  tiality 
ill  the  (laily  (list  lilmt  ion  to  tlic  poor ;  dciicdns  were  hy  t  lie  apos- 
tles put  in  tiiist  ^vitll  ••  llif  out  waid  business  "  ol'  tlie  clinrcii. 

Wlicii,  Ity  the  direction  of  tlie  twelve,  wlio  deserilicd  their 
lie('«'ss;iry  (pialilieatioiis  and  told  their  nnniiieis,  t he  iiiiiltitndo 
of  the  disciples  ( lected  the  men  to  hecoine  deacons,  this,  as  they 
wei-e  not  ••  endued  with  power  from  on  liiijli,' was  all  thattliey 
could  do.  As  those  who  came  to  the  jjiave  of  i.a/arus  could 
"tiike  away  the  stone,"  hnl  could  not  inaUo  the  "(lead  coiikj 
foi-lli,''  so  this  was  all  that  the  '•holy  hrethreii."'  ii;irt.ikers  of 
the  heavenly  callin<j,  inemlicrs  of  the'chnrch,  conid  or  can  do; 
they  can  commnnicale  none  of  the  "  p(»wef  "  of  .lesiis,  no,  not 
even,  as  a  rule,  to  servt;  the  tal/les  of  Llie  poor  in  the  lioiist*  of 
God. 

By  tli(^  tvvelv(\  actinj?  mider  their  Master's  antliorify,  tlioso 
cliosen  to  be  deacons,  were  exnmined,  ordained,  ai>i»oinle(l  and 
directed  by  the  elders  how  to  distiibiite  "  relief  "  to  the  poor. 

This  was  not  done,  by  any  majority,  or  iinanimons,  or  popular 
vote  of  the  disciples,  who,  thont^lj  then  a  mult  itiule.  liacl  not 
*'one  jot  or  tittle  "  of  "the  power  of  our  Lord  .lesus  Christ" 
in  any  way.  in  rnlinc^,  feedin,!::,  or  takinjjf  care  of  his  church. 
They  were  the  rnled,  not  rulers.  It  was  llieir  privile^^c,  when 
directe(|  by  their  otlicial  spiritual  superiors,  to  "  look  out  from 
anunij?"  themselves,  and  it  belonged  to  "the  work  of  the  minis- 
try," to  "the  elders  who  rnled  well."  especially  to  those  who 
laiiored  in  the  word  and  doctrine  (as  the  twelve  then  did),  1 
Pet.  V.  1 ;  3  .John  i.,  to  lay  their  "  hands  on  them,"  and  to  "ap- 
point "  them  over  this,  or  any  otiier  "  business"  of  ii  s()iritual 
character.     (Acts  xi.  30.) 

In  shewing  tons  "the  mind  of  Christ."  in  the  "  all  things, 
'which  he  commanded '"  them,  the  apostles,  in  associating  his 
followers,  organized  them  into  local  congregations,  or  assem- 
blies (.las.  ii.  li),  by  "ordaining"  for  them  "elders  in  every 
church,"  and  as  of  God,  there  is  but  "one  Lord,  one  faith  and 
one  baptism,"  so,  all  the  local  churches  wearing  the  Christian 
name,  where  they  do  not  deny  "  the  faith,"  were  (and  ought 
ever  to  be)  one.  Thus,  the  thousands  of  Christian  assemblies 
throughout  Judiea.  Galilee  and  Samaria  were  "  the  chuich  " 
(Acts  ix.  31),  the  whole  denomination  formed  but  one  church, 
and  in  all  cities,  where  the  true  followers  of  Christ  were  foun(l, 
there  was  something  "  wanting  "  there,  until,  by  "  the  work  of 
the  ministry,"  elders  were  elected,  ordained  and  ai)))ointe(l. 
Those,  to  wiioin  "the  power  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ"  was  to 
be  committed  by  "the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the  Presby- 
tery," must  be  "  faithful  men,"  "  not  novices,"  and  be  found, 
on  examination,  or  proof,  able  to  teach  others  also.  In  each 
local  chnrcli,  these  were  to  "  rule  with  diligence,"  not  "lording 
it  over  Crod's  heritage,  but  being  ensamples  to  the  Hock,"  while 
the  command  is  ever  on  record  (Ileb.  xiii.  17),  "Obey  them 
that  have  the  rule  over  you,"  etc. 


APri:Ni;icKs. 


493 


jro,  na- 
rtiality 

IC  llptlS- 

(1  tlicir 
illitM(lt< 
iis  tlicy 
i;il  tlicy 
s  coukl 

(I    COllU) 

kcis  ol' 

CUM  do ; 

111),  not 

ouso  of 

y,  tlic.so 
led  and 
poor. 
IKipular 
liad  not 
Christ " 
c-liurch. 
f(',  wlicii 
lit  Ironi 
ic  minis- 
losc  who 
n  did),  1 
to  ''ap- 
piritual 

things, 
|tinf?  Ilia 

assem- 
n  every 
iiith  and 
hristiai\ 
I  oiiiiht 
;ein\»li«'rt 
lliurcli  " 
church, 
'  found, 
^vork  of 
loiuted. 
'  was  to 
Presby- 

found, 
|ln  each 

lording 
'  while 

sy  them 


Tioforo  jroinff,  ns  tho  "  ambassadors  of  Clirist,"  "  into  all  the 
world,  bcyinnin^  at  .Icriisalt'ni,  to  prcacli  the  gospel  (o  every 
creature,*' they  receivi'd  their  authority  fi'oni  tlie  liolyiihost 
(Acts  xiii.  li.  3,  4),  liy  an  appointed  foinial  aeknowleilmneiil  of 
liis  "  power  "  and  presence.  '•  I'roved  "  l)y  liis  niiiiistei.-,  Ciilkd 
l)y  his  grace  and  ni  liis  providence,  tliey  are  ever  to  l»e  '•  sepa- 
ratecl  unto  tiie  work  whereinito  he  lias  called  thcin,"  and  tliis  by 
]»ro|iliels  and  teachers  in  his  chinch,  who,  with  fa>tiiig  and 
jirayei,  fiilhl  his  will,  while  the  oidainers  "  senil  tiieni  away," 
and  they  ;ire  "sent  forth  by  the  Holy  (Jhost." 


Til 


e  cinncli,  '  when 


in  the  wilderness,"  and  ev^-r  sinco, 


has  had  elders,  men  of  experience,  wisdom  and   gravity,  whoso 
laces  for  their  oflice,  so  long  as  they  used  it  will,  were  and  aro 


ever  to  lie  honored.  With  the  apostles,  elders  and  hisiiops  were 
ollicially  the  same,  and  l)y  them  they  were  instrm-trd  how  to 
ixMpet  iiate  the  odlce.  Not  only  so  ;  when  "divers  and  strange 
doctiines  "  endanger  the  soids  of  (iod's  people,  tlie  matlfrwas 
and  is  to  be  considered  by  the  elders  as  "tlie  apostles  of  the 
chnrcdies  and  the  glory  of  (Jhrist." 

Their  •'  decrees,"  where  they  "judge  righteous  jiidgnuMit,"  in- 
crease thennndterof  tin;  cliurches  and  establish  ihem  in  the 
f;iitli  and  joy  of  the  gospel. 

Again,  elders  must  ever  remember,  that  tlieir  spiritual  au- 
thoiity  extends  only  to  the  meml)ership  of  the  churc'i  and  to 
none  else.  "  Do  not  ye  judge  them  that  are  within  V  l>nl  them 
that  are  without  (iod  judgeth."  Presbyterians,  with  this 
authority  and  these  instrnctions  (among  the  other,  '"all 
things  which  I  have  commanded  you  ").  "  turned  the  inhabited 
earth  up-side  down."  liut  when  Christ  was  brought  iiito<.'on- 
nection  with  (or  under  the  i)atronage)  of  Ca'sar,  and  his  church 
was  ostensibly  aided  by  civil  government,  her  "gold  became 
dim." 

TIhmi,  in  due  time,  moderators  of  church  courts,  and  i)astor3 
in  cities  began  to  "  lord  it  over  God's  heritage,"  instead  of  being 
"feeders"  of,  and  "ensamples  to  the  dock." 

Hence  (says  Vicar  Stackhonse)*'  I'd  though  thebisliojisof  the 
primitive  church  wen;  all  inves.ed  with  the  same  oilice  and  an- 
tliority,  yet,  in  i)rocess  of  time  ind  as  Christianity  increased,  iti 
was  found  necessar/to  enlarge  the  Episcopal  jiower.  and,  tiier«;- 
fore,  as  before,  there  was  a  bishop  in  every  great  city,  so  now, 
an  archbishop  was  ])laced  in  every  metropolis.  When  Ciiris 
tianity  overspread  tlie  Roman  emjiire,  there  sprang  ui»ano'ilier 
superior  branch  of  the  Episco])al  otlice,  itrimates  and  patriarchs, 
who  had  jurisdiction  over  several  provinces. 

"To  understand  this,  it  is  reijuisite  to  know,  that  when  the 
Christian  faith  was  fully  settled  in  the  world,  it  was  determined 
to  vnxUJ  the  external  government  of  the  church,  as  near  as  might 
be,  to  the  civil  government  of  the  empire,  which  was  divided 
into  thirteen  dioceses,  and  these  containing  aliont  one  hundred 
and  twenty  provinces,  and  every  province  several  cities,  as  in 
every  city  there  was  a  magistrate,  so  was  there  also  a  bishop, 


494 


APPENDICES. 


wlinso  jurisdiction  was  of  like  extent."    {Ptody  nf  Divinity,  p. 
74();  K(l.  London,  17l!).) 

We  liavf  here,  tlicii,  th(>  full  dcvcloiimont  of  pif  larv.  from  its 
nuity  in  Ilic  N'atican  (from  tlic  tliirlccn  dioccsrsi  down  to  tlie 
sin^dc  iiarisli.  all  in  ('<tnd)inalioii  ;  and  as  Uic  systt-ni  is  not  ob- 
tained from  (nor  in  liaiiuouy  with.)  "tiieoracdes  of  God/"  but 
(li'awn  from  tiie  stincture  aiul  extent  of  the  Ifoman  Empire  ;  so, 
not  oidy  the  sei)aratists  and  "semi-separatists.''  but  the  nou- 
I'onforniists  withdrew  tiom  full  fellowship  with  the  Church  of 
Enj^'land,  its  Pvotestaiit  representation. 

And  we  cume  now  to  the  "■  rt.se  of  Congregationalism  in  Xew 
England.'"' 

"  I'^or  one  liundnMl  and  ten  years  after  the  discovery  of  Amer- 
ica, no  l';nropeaiis  but  Siianiards  bad  made  any  settlements  on 
its  soil.  To  the  crown  of  their  country  (in  14981  the  I'lipe  was 
l)leased  to  give  the  sole  title  to  all  lands  lying  above  one  hundred 
leagues  west  of  the  Azoi'es.  and  such  was  the  ignorance  in  Eu- 
rope tliat  the  mnltitmle  thought  he  had  a  right  to  do  so. 

''  In  the  meantime,  for  some  eighty  years.  England.  Scotland, 
Ireland.  France  and  tlie  Netherlands  were  so  fully  engagt  d  with 
their  own  internal  broils  about  religion,  as  well  as  mutual  wars 
on  this  and  on  other  accounts,  that  they  had  neither  pow*^'  nor 
leisure  to  attend  to  foreign  settlements.  During  tliis  time  it  is 
believed,  that  from  Florida  to  Greenland  there  was  not  one 
resident  Euroi)eau  family.  But  after  1598,  these  nations  sent 
out  men  to  fish  and  trade,  and  afterwards  to  settle  as  colonies— 
the  French  to  Canada  and  Acadia,  the  English  to  Newfound- 
land, Hermudaand  Virginia.'"    {Pr.  N.  E.  Citron.,  j).  '1.) 

As  Hudson,  an  Englishman,  in  1609,  in  the  Dutch  East  India 
(yomi)any's  service,  penetrated  the  IJritish  territory,  so  by  the 
Dutch,  settlements  were  naade  in  Albany  and  New  York  in 
1014. 

We  have  seen  the  Puritan  Episcopalians  from  1o72,  in  Eng- 
land, extensively  be  v,v)ming  Presbyterians,  the  only  thing  else 
they  could,  with  their  Bibles  in  their  hands,  become,  until  they 
weie  suppi-essed  in  lo91  by  the  Star  Chambei-  and  High  Commis- 
sion Court ;  we  liave  also  traced  the  movements  of  those  who  at 
Plymoutii,  Mass.,  in  1620,  in  almost  exact  Prtsbyterial  form, 
sought 

"A  church  without  a  bishop, 
A  state  withuut  a  king." 


Others  follow.  In  1G27  Governor  Dudley  and  others  obtained 
a  ])ateiit  for  tiiat  j^art  of  Virginia  called  (since  1614 1  New  Eng- 
land, under  the  title  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  C(»mi)aiiy.  On 
June  20th,  1628,  Captain  John  Endicott  sailed  for  Neamkeak  as 
agent,  to  lu-epare  a  way  for  the  i)atentees. 

This  place,  Neamkeak,  was  selected  by  a  trader,  a  "  Mr. 
Cojiant,  in  1625,  who  conceived  that  in  aftertimes  it  may  j)rove 
a  receptacle  for  such  in  England  as,  on  account  of  rdiijion^ 
would  be  willing  to  settle  in  these  parts  of  the  world  and  (return- 


APPENDICES. 


405 


lity,  p. 

om  its 
to  the 
lot  ob- 

\:'  but 

re ;  so, 
e  non- 
irch  of 

in  New 

■  Amer- 

oits  on 
o\)i'  ^vas 
lundrt'il 

I'  in  Eu- 

cotliind, 
^t  d  witli 
ii:il  wars 
)\v(n-  nor 
inie  it  is 
not  one 
ons  sent 
)lonies— 
Avt'ound- 

■2.) 

ist  India 

)  \iv  the 

York  in 

in  Enj;- 
liinff  else 
iitil  they 

"ommis- 
ie  who  lit 
[ill  form, 


|ol)tained 
[vw  Eng- 

}iiy-    ^" 
(iikeak  as 

"  Mr. 

lay  prove 

rdiyiout 

(return- 


ins  that  wintor  lie)  sivps  an  intimation  of  it  to  liis  friends  in 
Enu-laiid."    ill,.,  ]K  loT.) 

To  Ncanik"ai;  he  rt'liinied  in  1()2G  to  live.  Tin's  iiiforinalion 
Spread,  ami  was  so  ('ii(;ourat;in^  tliat  on  Ai»ril  17th,  lUiii),  tlie 
lit'V.  Mi'ssis.  l''raiicis  IIi;,f,ifinson  and  Samuel  Skcllon  ( l-vpiscopal 
ministers),  witli  i)ther  colonists,  were  sent  out  fioni  England  by 
the  comi'any. 

Tlie  t'oinier  liad  been  silenced  for  uoin'onfoiinity.  {Jh.,  ISiJ.) 
Tiiey  were  botii  men  of  mark  for  excellence  of  cliaracter,  and  to 
tliem  the  <;('rminatin<:f  and  niouldin.i,'  of  the  enterprise  in  its  re- 
ligions asjtects  weic  connnitted  by  the  governor  and  company. 

l}('fi>re  leaviui'"  Ent^land,  ''tlie  yreat  Mr.  Ilildeisham.  of  Ash- 
ley,'' viewins?  tin-  dcliv^iuey  as  well  as  the  importance  of  the  en- 
teri)rise.  "•advised  th(  se  "first  plaiders  to  a^ree  fully  upon  their 
form  of  churcli  <.':oveniment  before  coininti  into  New  Kn<;iaiHl.'" 
Tiiey  answer,  "  We  have  indeed  agreed  upon  little  fuitiier  tiiau 
thisVeneial  principle  {II,.,  ]>.  1S4),  that  the  reformation  of  tlie 
church  was  to  be  e!ideav<u"ed  according;  to  tia-  wi  itten  word  of 
(rod."'  'J'o  the  company's  conmiittee  lliese  two  ministeis  said, 
"  We  are  of  one  jiKltimeut  and  fully  agreed  in  the  manner  how 
to  exercise  our  ministry." 

Tiiey  were  coiiscienti(nis  Episcoi>alians,  and  here  was  the  re- 
ligious uerin  of  tlie  enterprise,  viz.:  ''the  reformation  of  the 
ciiurch."  This  the  company  and  chaplains  could  not  do  in 
England,  but  this  they  wou'ld  "rj/f/oo'o/- ''  to  do  in  America 
"  according  to  the  written  word  of  (iod." 

They  agreed  upon  little  further  than  this,  but  upon  this  they 
■were  agreed.  As  to  their  future  "  form  of  church  government," 
before  coming  to  New  England,  these  two  ministers,  engaged  by 
the  first  jilanters,  had  (it  would  seem)  agreed  fully  upon  it,  as 
the  two  told  the  committee  that  they  were  "  agreed  and  fully  of 
one  judgment  how  to  exercise  their  ministry." 

On  .June  2tth,  1G29,  these  two  (with  two  other)  ministers,  the 
Bev.  Messrs.  Smith  and  ]5riglit,  arrived,  and  from  Psalms 
Ixxvi.  li,  they  called  Neamkeak,  Salem  (Peaa). 

As  we  know  wiiat  our  Saviour  "  commanded  "  his  apostles,  by 
learning  what  they  have  taught  his  followers  in  all  ages  "  to  ob- 
serve," so  we  learn  the  "  general  princi])le  "  adoi)ted  bythe.se 
men  by  what  they  carried  out  and  established  :  a  new  church 
order,  dilferent  from  both  Presbyteriauism  and  Prelacy.  For 
'•July  20th,  (Governor  Endicott,"  the  civil  i)o\ver,  not  any  ec- 
clesiastical, "sets  apart  as  a  day  of  fasting,  prayer,  aiul  the  trial 
and  choice  of  a  jiastor  and  teacher."  On  "July  liSth  Mr.  llig- 
ginsoii,  being  desired  by  the  thirty  associates,  draws  up  a  con- 
fession of  faith  and  a  covenant."  (Ih.,  p.  190.)  "On  August 
6th,  being  Thursday,  by  the  governor's  appv>intment  "  (an  otlicer 
anienalile  only  to  liis  com]>auy  and  t<»  the  l'>iitish  Episcopal 
crown),  "  after  tlu?  two  ministers  had  preached,  the  confession 
and  covenant  were  read  to  the  assembly,  some  three  hundred  in 
number."  To  these  the  thirty  willing  to  begin  a  church  organi- 
zation assented,  atier  wliicli  "  Mr.  lliggiuson ,  with  three  or  four 


f 


496 


AITENDICES. 


of  the  j^ravpst "  of  tlio  tliiity  momliers  of  tho  "  socio! y."  permp- 
atcd  {:is\vas  taken  for  granted)  with  tiie  power  of  '' Presl)ytery," 
"  l)ro(;ee(led  to  tlu^  layinf,'  on  of  lian(ls"'on  ]Mr.  Slielton  with 
prayer.  This  constitutes  ]Mr.  Sl^eiton  tiieir  pastor,  and  he 
stands  forth  in  a  ne*v  liulit.  His  I"'pis!;opal  oidination  is 
vamped  up,  and  now  a  new  species  of  "tactual  succession," 
"  part  of  iron  and  part  of  I'lay  "  is  upon  liini.  His  was  an  (and 
the  iirst)  American  Protestant  ordination.  "Tlien  Mr.  Skel- 
ton,"  with  others  of  tiie  thiity,  conveys  a  moiety  of  "  tiie  jiower 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  "  tlius  obtained,  "\)y  a  like  jtrocess  to 
Mr.  Ilifff^inson,  by  wliicli  he  becomes  tlieir  teaclier."  (/'>.,  p. 
ISO.)  A  Mr.  Ilou<j;hton  was  tlien  oi-dained  as  a  riilin.tf  elder. 
{[I>.^  p.  190.)  '•  Messrs.  Skelton  and  lli.i^fjinson  havin.L>-  been  or- 
dained by  bishojjs  in  tlie  Churcli  of  England,  this  oidination  at 
iSalem  was  only  (tliey  say)  to  this  particular  Hock  founded  on 
their  free  election.  But  as  there  siems  to  be;  a  repealed  InipfKsi- 
tlon  of  /ia»(?.s,  the  former,  on  July  2i)th,  may  only  si;j,iiify  their 
previous  separation  for  their  solemn  ciiai<;V  ;  and  this' latter 
of  August  Gth  tiieir  actual  investiture  t'.ierein."     (//>.,  p.  ]!)1.) 

2'/it,s  is  tin?  viannn\  })lace  and  tiuip  in  wiiich,  and  at  which 
^'Congregationalisin  (i)egan  to  take  and;  took  its  rise  "  and  saw 
the  light  of  day  ''  in  New  England." 

It  was  not  European  born  nor  even  "seaborn."  but  horn  in 
Salem,  Massachusetts — as  was  Presbyterianism  in  Jerusalem, 
Prelacy  in  Rome  and  Protestant  Episcopa(;y  in  London. 

As  to  the  spot  of  its  birth  it  was  not  at  "  Plymouth  Rock," 
but  at  ''Salem."  For  commerce,  the  i)lace  was  judiciously  se- 
lected by  Mr.  Conant.  It  is  "on  a  tongu(>  of  land  two  miles  by 
tliree-(piarters  of  one  mile,  bet  ween  tli(^  Nortii  and  South  rivers, 
in  latitude  42-  31'  IS",  in  longitude  70^  53'  58".  It  has  a  c(m. 
venient  and  well-i)rotected  liarbor,  was  extensively  commercial, 
until  eclipsed  by  lioston  in  the  nineteentli  century,  has  liigli  lit- 
erary advantages  lunv,  some  twenty  churches,  and  a  i)oi>ulatioii 
of  aliout  twenty-live  tliousand  souls.  There  and  then  the  tidrd 
"'orr/rr"  of  ecclcisiastical  polity  in  Christendom  began. 

Tliis  society  in  Salem,  which  has  been  said  to  be  "the  first 
complete  church  organization  ever  effected  in  North  America  " 
(rrasri^rfT),  "  tlie  first  Puritan  eliurch  organized  in  America" 
(7>a<c7u7(?fr),  has  risen  so  high  that  for  generations  the  oHicial 
successors  of  those  (iod-fearing  men  who  oiru;iated  at  her  birth, 
ui'e  elevated  by  the  iiniate  nature  of  Congicgationalism  to  the 
l>lane  of  Unitarianism.  Emmanuel,  the  "  I  am,"  has  only  a 
name,  nothing  more,  and  no  phlce  on  the  original  church  site. 

Such  is  the  "  II ub  "  of  tlieall  Congregat  ional  chnrciies  in  Amer- 
ica. After  these  arrangements  were  completed,  as  "  the  church 
l>rofessed  to  exercis(>  discipline  upon  scandalous  p(M'sons  and  to 
110  lowjrr  read, common  prayer  (which  liad  Ix-en  read  till  August 
(ith,  lbL'!}i,  two  brothers,  a  lawyer  and  a  merchant,  begin  to 
gather  a  separate  comi)any  and  to  read  conunon  iirayer,  upon 
which  the  i;overm)r  convents  tliem  before  him,  and  liiKling  tiieir 
«peeches  and  practices  tending  to  nuitiny  and  faction,  he  sends 
them  back  to  England."    {Fr.  and  Malh.) 


APPENDICES. 


497 


prme- 

LiM-y," 

with 

1(1   lie 

ion   is 

sioii," 
II  (and 
,  SU(4. 
power 

I'css  to 

/^.,  p. 

;  I'kler. 
'en  or- 

ion  iit 
ilrd  oa 
inii>()!<i- 
■y  their 
r latter 

which 
,nd  saw 

born  in 
usiilem. 

Rock," 

usly  se- 
lilcs  by- 
rivers, 
a  con- 
neicial, 
litih  lit- 
\ilati()n 
le  tliird 

hie  first  • 
luMiea  " 
licrica  " 
olVicial 
|r  biith, 
to  the 
only  a 
|i  site. 

Anier- 

|chur(;li 

I  ami  to 

|.\n;i,iist 

•i'iii  to 

Ir,  upon 

\yr  ilieir 

sends 


As  this  eolnny  were  Episcopalians  when  they  left  Enpfland, 
tlie  lawyer  and  "nieichant  tlionylit  it  to  be  more  like  connnon 
sense  to  conlinnc  so,  and  did  not  nnderstand  this  new  idea,  this 
way  of  rei'oitnin.u'  the  Protestant  Ki)iscopal  Clnirch,  wiiich 
spianff  up  before  their  eyes  and  now  refpiired  the  innilicit  obe- 
diencf'  of  clmi-clinicn  as  well  as  of  the  initiated. 

I'rade  and  religion  were  combined  in  this  colonization,  hnt 
these  brothers  did  not  understand  tiie  Rev.  Mr.  Hijrginson  when 
}ie  said  :  "■  If  any  man  make  trade  to  religion,  as  thirteen  to 
twelve,  lie  mistakes  the  character  of  a  New  England  man,"  so 
they  were  "  coiiveiited  "  and  reshipped  for  not  making  religion 
to  trade,  as  thirteen  to  twelve. 

V>y  vessels  returning  this  autumn  tidings  of  the  prosperity 
(notwithstanding  many  deaths)  at  8alem,  stirred  up  otliers  of 
the  brethren  in  England  (wiiose  yoke  unjustly  imposed  was 
heavy)  to  emigrate  to  Amei'iea,  and'at  "  the  latter  end  of  1G29  a 
Congregational  church  is  by  a  pious  people  gathered  in  the  New 
Hospital  at  Plymouth,  in  Enijland.  They  keep  a  day  of  prayer 
and  fasting,  the  Kev.  Mr.  "Wiiite,  of  Dorchester  ])reaches,  and 
they  choose  and  call  tlie  Rev.  Messrs.  Warliam  and  Maverick  to 
be  tiieir  o(hc(M's  and  ordain  them  at  the  same  time."   (P.,  p.  200.) 

Tliongh  associated  in  (and  by  information  carried  to)  England, 
in  a  manner  similar  to  the  society  at  Neamkeak.  yet  they  find 
none  of  this  new  form  of  order  in  England  and  they  hasten  to 
America  to  enjoy  its  associations  in  the  only  place  in  which 
tiiese  could  be  then  found. 

''On  :Marcli  20th,  108ii,  these  sail  for  the  Massachusetts"  (P., 
p.  204',  and  "  on  Mav  30th  arrive  at  Nantasket,  thence  they  go 
to  Charlestown."     (P.,  p.  207.) 

In  ten  years,  however,  it  was  carried  hack  to  England,  all  but 
the  theocracy  and  Athenian  democracy,  which  were  interwoven 
into  the  system  in  the  Bay,  but  were  inoperative  in  Great 
Britain. 

"  On  Ai)ril  7th,  Governor  Winthroi),  with  five  other  gentle- 
men and  the  Rev.  (Jeorge  Pliiilips,  on  board  the  'Arabella.'  at 
Yarniouth.  sign  an  humble  recpiest  of  His  Majesty's  loyal  sub- 
jects, the  governor  and  (;ompany  late  gone  to  New  England,  to 
the  rest  of  their  brethren  in  and  of  the  (Jliurrh  of  Enyland;  for 
the  obtaining  of  their  jn-ayers  and  the  removal  of  suspicions  and 
misconstruction  of  their  intentions."  (Printed  in  London,  4to, 
"1(330.)     (P.,p.  20o.) 

''On  June  12th  they  arrive  in  the  Bay,  go  ashore  to  their 
friends  in  Salem  "  (/-•.,  p.  20!)),  and  on  "July  8th  they  keep  a  day 
of  thanksgiving  through  all  their  plantations  for  their  experience 
of  the  Divine  goodness."     i  /'.,  ]».  211.) 

Whetliei-  any  of  the  wives  and  children  of  the  Pilgrims  left  in 
Enroiie  had  previously  come  to  them  or  not,  does  not  fidly  ap- 
})ear.  but  the  record  says  :  "  Thirty-five  of  oui' friends,  with  their 
families,  from  Leyden.  left  London  in  May  and  arrived  at  New 
Plymouth  in  August,  1029.  Tlieir  expenses  our  undertakers  pay 
gratis,  beside  giving  them  houses,  grounds  to  plant  on,  and 
32 


498 


APPENDICES. 


maintaining  them  above  tliirteen  months  before  they  have  a  har- 
vest of  their  own."    (P.,  pp.  192, 193.) 

Anotlier  company  of  Leyden  friends  (of  tlie  Kobinson  Cliurch) 
were  shipped  in  Marcli,  1G30,  and  arrived  in  New  E)if>huid  in 
May,  all  the  expenses  of  whom  (above  io-lO)  the  new  Plynionth 
undertakes  to  pay  gratis.  They  then  provide  for  them  food  for 
sixteen  or  eighteen  months  before  they  have  a  harvest  of  their 
own,  wliich  comes  near  to  as  mnch  more,  a  rare  example  of 
brotherly  love  and  Christian  care  in  performing  their  promises 
to  their  brethren,  even  beyond  their  power."  [lb.,  p.  liUl.) 
"  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them."    (Matt.  vii.  20.) 

Tills  "  colony  of  pious  ])eople,  who  also  came  on  account  of  re- 
ligion only,  were  of  a  denomination  somewhat  different  from 
them  of  Plymouth,  who,  twenty-eight  years  before,  sei)arated 
from  the  Church  of  England,  and  were  called  IScjxirdtist.^,  but 
the  latter,  those  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  with  the  colonies  issuing 
from  them— Puritans— were  till  now,  IQSO^  pr()f( ss( d  nambeys  of 
the  Church  of  EmjIamV  (P.,  p.  213.)  '^On'  June  24th,  1629, 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Bright,  with  others,  removes  to  Charlestown, 
"where  he  stays  above  a  year,"  and  "  on  Augu.st  27th,  KioO,  Mr. 
John  Wilson  (who  was  formerly  an  Episcopju  minister  in  Sud- 
bury), was  there  chosen  and  ordained  teaching  elder,  or  pastor. 
This  was  the  first  ordination  of  an  elder  in  jSIassachusetts 
Bay,"  and  his  "extent  now  reaches  on  both  sides  of  the  Charles 
river."    (P.,  p.  247.) 

Thus  increasing  with  the  using,  this  new  church  polity  contin- 
ued to  "  rise,"  and  while  Mr.  Wilson,  when  installed  as  minister 
at  Charlestown  at  the  above  date,  "  submitted  unto  an  ordination 
witii  an  imposition  of  such  hands  as  were  by  the  church  invited 
so  to  pronounce  the  benediction  of  heaven  upon  him,  yet  it  was 
done  with  n  protefitatioii  by  all,  that  it  should  be  only  a  sign  of 
his  election  to  the  charge  of  his  new  liock,  without  any  intention 
that  he  should  thereby  renounce  the  ministry  lie  had  received  in 
England."  {Math.  J/ay.,  vol.  i.,  p.  79.)  The  next  rising  of  this 
new  polity  was  in  Dorchester,  then  '^  Boston,  which  issued  out 
of  Charlestown  "(/?).),  then  "  succeeded  one  in  Iloxbury,  then 
one  in  Lynn,  and  a  seventh  at  Watertown."    [lb.) 

This  development  continued  as  population  increased,  and  in 
seventeen  years  "  it  was  on  many  accounts  necessary  for  them 
to  make  a  declaration  of  their  church  order,"  which  they  did  in 
1648,  and  called '' the  Cambridge  Platform."  Tiie  number  of 
churches  in  the  Bay  colony  had  at  this  date  increased  to  thirty- 
nine.  The  ministers  and  elders,  as  they  compared  imujen, 
"committed  these  to  writing  as  the  good  hand  of  God  had 
moulded  them." 

"  Hence,  the  manner  in  which  Congregationalism  took  its  rise 
in  New  England,  renders  it  suthciently  divine."  (Christian 
Obscr.,  vol.  i.,  No.  8,  August,  1847.) 

Although  the  Ejiiscoiialians  had  inhabited  in  Virginia  above 
twenty  years,  and  the  Dutch  I'resbyterians  had  occupied  in  New 
York  for  some  fifteen,  and  the  Pilgrims  had,  in  1G20,  adopted 


APPENDICES. 


499 


a  har- 

mvch) 
lucl  ill 
nouth 
0(1  lor 
'  theiv 
pie  of 
onuses 
.  201.) 

t  of  re- 
it  from 
)iirated 

s^s,  but 
issuing 
ibcrs  of 
h,l<)29, 

BstOWU, 

iao,  Mr. 
in  Sucl- 

pustor. 
^Imsetts 

Cluirk'S 

7  contin- 

iiuuister 

iiuitiou 

invited 

t  it  NYUS 

sign  of 
itention 
ived  in 
rr  of  this 
ued  out 


17' 


then 


I 


.,  and  in 
or  them 
>y  did  in 
mber  of 
|o  thirty- 

od  had 

\i  its  rise 
;hrisiian 

[ia  above 
.  in  New 
adopted 


their  "church  order,"  and  were  supposed  to  he  a  church,  yet, 
by  Xew  Hn<?lau(l  writers,  beside  those  quoted  above,  J.  Tlioinas, 
M.  J).,  and  T.  Jialdwiu,  I-2ditors  of  "  Lippincott's  Pronouncing 
(razetteei-,"  it  is  asserted  that  ''this  was  the  first  complete 
ciiurch  organization  ever  effected  in  North  America."  Wliether 
tFiis  were  true  or  not,  it  was  unchuibtedly  the  lirst  one  of  this 
species  as  radically,  essentially  and  forever  distinct  from,  and 
in  opposition  to  botli  Presbytei'ianism  and  Prelacy. 

This  youuff  maiden  looks  very  fair.  J.et  her  birthday,  Thurs- 
day, August  Oth,  1()29,  be  entered  on  the  Calendar.  The  off- 
Si)ring  of  ''circumstances  "  and  of  the  invention  and  iisayes  of 
men  ;  her  progeny  (and  they  are  very  many)  maintain,  that  "all 
church  power  resides  in  the  church  and  not  in  church  ofhcers, 
and  resides  in  each  i)articular  church  directly  and  originally  by 
virtue  of  the  expicss  or  implied  comi)act  of  its  members." 
{Bo.'iton  Congrcydtioitdl  AlnnDKu-,  18-17,  \).  43.)  While  this  sys- 
tem is  in  so  far  based  on  Divine  revelation,  as  to  say,  "Go  to, 
let  us  make,"  ''let  us  build,"  "let  us  make  and  let  us  return," 
"  we  will  neither  eat  nor  drink  till  we  have,"  yet,  it  does  not  in- 
clude and  fully  represent  the  "all  Scripture  which  is  given  by 
inspiration  of  God  and  is  all  profitable,  requiring  those  wlio  rule 
to  rule  with  diligence." 

It  is  at  best  only  an  eclectic  theory.  If  we  can  believe  the 
prince  of  New  England  divines,  Jonathan  Edwards,  it  is  an 
"  unsettled,  independent  and  confused  way  of  church  govern- 
ment, while  the  Presbyterian  is  more  consistent  with  reason, 
with  Scripture  and  with  the  nature  of  things."  It  is  still  "un- 
settled and  confused,"  for  their  National  Congregational  Coun- 
cil of  1880,  apj)ointed  nine  men  to  appoint  twenty-tive  others  to 
prepare  a  creed.  This  is  a  wise  course,  and  the  denomination 
could  at  once  prove  it  to  be  so,  by  adopting  "the  New  England 
Primer, "  which,  it  is  avowed,  "  eight-tenths  "  of  their  ministers 
do  not  believe.  This  would  be  an  honor  to  the  dead,  and  an 
honor  and  vast  blessing  to  their  posterity  and  millions  of  others 
of  mankind.    May  "  the  Lord  hasten  it  in  his  time." 

That  Council  also  proposed  to  have  "a  tablet  prepared  for  the 
Rev.  John  Robinson,  upon  the  iimer  walls  of  the  cathedral  of 
St.  Peter,  in  Leyden,  under  whose  pavement  Robinson  lies 
buried,"  "as  neither  bust. portrait,  nor  even  a  hint  of  his  physi- 
cal juesence  remains."  This  ought  to  have  been  done  genera- 
tions ago,  for  he  there  "  so  defended  the  truth  against  sundry 
Arininiaa  lluscs  of  Episcoi)ius,  as  to  cause  many  to  give  praise 
to  God,  that  the  Truth  had  so  famous  a  victory.  His  successful 
disputation  procured  him  then  much  resi)ect  and  honor  from 
those  learned  men  and  others,"    {Fr.  N.  E.  Chron.,  \).  38.) 

Happy  would  it  be  for  themselves  and  others,  if,  as  a  monu- 
ment to  him,  they  would  adopt  his  doctrines  and  "church 
order." 


500 


APPENDICES. 


B-— Page  35. 

Confession  of  FnWi,  marie  with  cnmmnn  accord  by  the  Beformed 
churches  of  the  Kinydoni  of  France. 

Article  I.— We  believe  and  confess  that  tliere  is  one  only 
(iod,  who  is  a  single  and  simple  bein<;,  spiritual,  eternal,  invisi- 
ble, uuehanReable,  intinite,  incomprehensible,  ineffable,  Avho 
can  do  all  things,  vvlio  is  all  wise,  all  good,  all.  just,  and  all 
merciful. 

II.— This  God  manifests  himself  in  this  manner  to  men,  first 
by  his  works,  as  much  by  tlie  creation  as  by  the  ])reservatiou 
and  conduct  of  them.  .Secondly,  and  more  clearly,  by  his  word, 
which  in  the  beginning  revealed  by  oracles,  has  been  since  then 
connnitted  to  writing,  by  writing  in  the  books  which  we  call 
the  Holy  Scripture. 

III.— All  this  Holy  Scripture  is  comprised  in  the  canonical 
books  or  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  of  which  the  number  fol- 
lows. The  five  books  of  Moses,  known  as  Genesis,  Exodus, 
Leviticus,  Numbers,  Deuteronomy.  Item,  Joshua,  Judges, 
Ituth,  the  first  and  second  book  of  Samuel,  tlie  first  and  second 
book  of  Kings,  the  first  and  second  book  of  Chronicles,  other- 
•wise  called  Paralipomena,  the  first  book  of  Ezra.  Item,Nehe- 
miah,  the  book  of  Estlier.  Job,  the  Psalms  of  David,  the  Pro- 
verbs or  Sentences  of  .Solomon,  the  book  of  Ecclesiastes,  called 
the  Preacher ;  the  Canticles  of  Solomon.  Item,  the  book  of 
Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  Lamentations  of  Jeremiah,  Ezekiel,  Daniel, 
Ilosea,  Joel,  Amos,  Obadiah,  Jonas,  Micah,  Nahum,  Ilabakkuk, 
Zephaniah,  Ilaggai,  Zechariah,  Malachi.  Item,  the  Holy  (ios- 
pel  according  to  St.  Matthew,  according  to  St.  Mark,  according 
to  St.  Luke,  and  according  to  St.  John,  Item,  tlie  second  book 
of  St.  Luke,  otherwise  called  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  Item, 
the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  to  tlie  Koiuaiis  one,  to  the  Corinthians 
two,  to  the  Galatians  one,  to  the  Ephesians  one,  to  the  Philip- 
l»ians  one,  to  the  Colossians  one,  to  tlie  Thessalonians  two,  to 
Timothy  two,  to  Titus  one,  to  Philemon  one.  Item,  the  Epis- 
tle to  the  Hebrews,  the  Ei)istleof  St.  James,  the  first  and  second 
Epistle  of  St.  Peter,  the  first,  second  and  third  Epistle  of  St. 
John,  the  Ei)istle  of  St.  Jude.  Item,  the  Apocalypse  or  lievela- 
tion  of  St.  John. 

IV.— We  know  these  books  to  be  Canonical,  and  the  most 
certain  rule  of  our  faith  ;  not  so  much  by  the  common  accord 
and  consent  of  the  church,  as  by  the  testimony  and  internal 
persuasion  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  makes  us  to  discern  them 
from  the  other  Ecclesiastical  books,  upon  which,  though  they 
may  be  useful,  one  cannot  found  any  article  of  faith. 

V,— We  believe  that  the  word  which  is  contained  in  these 
books,  has  proceeded  from  God,  from  whom  alone  it  takes  its 
authority,  and  not  from  men.  And  for  as  nnich  as  it  is  the  rule 
of  all  truth,  containing  all  that  is  necessary  for  the  service  of 
God  and  for  our  salvation,  it  is  not  lawful  to  men,  nor  even  to 


APPENDICES. 


601 


tern, 
liaus 
lilip- 
o,  to 
Epis- 
cond 
|)f  St. 
vela- 


tliese 

[s  its 

rule 

36  of 

m  to 


aiiffPls,  to  adrl  to,  diminisli  or  alter  it.  "Whrnce  it  follows,  that 
iH'itlior  nntiquity,  nor  customs,  uor  the  multitude,  uor  human 
uisdoni,  nor  judffmeuts,  uor  scntcuccs,  uor  edicts,  uor  decrees, 
nor  couucils,  nor  visions,  uor  miracles,  should  be  ojiposf'd  to  this 
Holy  Scripture  ;  but  on  tiie  contrary  all  thinpfs  should  l>e  exam- 
iued,  regulated  and  reformed  acconliug  to  it.  And  following? 
that,  we  acknowledjje  tiie  three  creeds,  known  as  the  Apostles', 
the  Nicene  and  tlie  Athanasian,  because  they  are  cont'ormed  to 
the  Word  of  God. 

VI.— Tills  Holy  Scripture  teaches  us  that  in  this  only  and  sin- 
pie  Divine  Being,  wliom  we  liave  cont'essed.  there  are  tliree  per- 
sons, tiie  Father,  tlie  Son,  and  the  Holy  (Hiost.  The  Fatlier, 
first  cause,  i)rincii)le  anil  origin  of  all  things.  The  Son,  his 
word  and  eternal  wisdom.  Tiie  Holy  S]urit.  his  viitue,  ])ower 
and  elRcacy.  The  Son  eternally  begotten  of  the  Fatlicr.  Tiie 
Holy  Spirit,  eternally  ])rnce('diug  from  tliem  liotli  ;  the  thiee 
persons  not  confused,  but  distinct,  and  nevertheless  not  divided, 
but  of  one  same  l)eing,  eteinity,  power  and  ecpiality.  And  in 
that  we  acknowledge  what  lias  been  determined  by  the  ancient 
councils,  and  detest  all  sects  and  heresies  wliich  liave  been 
rejected  by  tlie  holy  doctors,  as  St.  Hilaire,  St.  Athanasius,  St. 
Ambrose  and  St.  Cyril. 

VII.— We  believe  tliat  God  in  three  co-operating  persons,  by 
his  virtue,  wisdom  and  incomprehensible  goodness,  lias  created 
all  things,  not  only  the  heaven,  the  eartli  and  all  which  is  con- 
tained therein,  but  also  the  invisible  spirits,  of  whicli  some  have 
fallen  and  stumbled  into  perdition,  others  have  persevered  in 
obedience.  That  the  lirst  being  corrupted  in  malice,  are  enemies 
of  all  good,  consetpiently  of  the  wliole  church.  The  second, 
having  been  preserved  by  tlie  grace  of  God,  are  ministers  for 
glorifying  the  name  of  God,  and  serving  in  the  salvation  of  his 
elect. 

VIII.— "We  believe  that  not  only  has  he  created  all  things,  but 
that  he  governs  and  conducts  them,  disposing,  ordefing  ac(u)rd- 
ing  to  his  will  all  tliat  wliich  is  in  the  world;  not  that  he 
may  be  the  author  of  evil,  or  that  sin  can  be  imputed  to  liini, 
since  his  will  is  the  sovereign  and  infallible  rule  of  all  rigiiteous- 
ness  and  e(pnty ;  but  he  has  admirable  means  of  employing  in 
such  a  manner  the  devils  and  evil  ones,  that  he  can  convert  into 
good  the  evil  that  they  do,  and  of  which  they  are  guilty.  And 
thus  in  confessing  that  nothing  is  done  without  the  providence 
of  (xod,  we  adore  in  humility  tiie  secrets  which  are  concealed 
from  us,  witliout  asking  aliove  our  measure,  but  rather  we  apply 
to  our  use  what  is  siiown  us  in  the  Holy  Scrii)tures.  that  we  may 
be  in  i)eace  and  safety,  for  as  much  as  (Jod,  wiio  has  all  tilings 
subject  to  himself,  watches  over  us  with  a  jiaternal  care,  so  tliat 
there  shall  not  fall  a  hair  of  our  head  without  his  will.  And 
meanwhile  he  holds  the  devils  and  all  our  enemies  biidled,  so 
that  they  cannot  do  any  wrong  to  us  without  his  permission. 

IX. — We  believe  that  man,  having  beim  created  i)ure  and  per- 
fect, and  made  like  the  image  of  (Jod,  has  by  his  own  sin  fallen 


502 


APPENDICES. 


frr»m  the  ffrnco  that  ho  liarl  rcroivod.  And  tlins  has  alipnatorl 
himself  from  (Jod,  who  is  the  fouiilaiii  of  justice  and  of  all  j?ood, 
so  that  his  nature  is  wholly  corruitted.  And  being  Idiiided  in 
liis  spiiit  and  dei)raved  in  liis  iieavt,  has  lost  all  inteji^rity,  witii- 
out  having  anything  left.  And  altlKnigh  he  may  still  have  some 
discretion  of  good  and  evil,  notwithstanding,  we  assert,  that 
that  which  he  has  of  clearness  is  changed  into  darkness  wlien  it 
is  a  qnestion  of  seeking  (iod.  So  that  he  can  by  no  means  ap- 
proacJi  him  by  his  intelligence  and  reason.  And  aUliough  he 
may  have  a  will  by  wiiich  he  is  incited  to  do  this  or  that,  never- 
tlieh'ss  it  is  wholly  captive  under  sin  ;  so  that  he  has  no  liberty 
to  good  but  that  which  (iod  gives  him. 

X.— We  believe  that  all  the  rac(!  of  Adam  is  infected  with 
snch  contagion,  which  is  (niginal  sin,  and  a  hereditary  vice,  and 
not  merely  an  imitation,  as  tlie  IVlagians  have  wished  to  assert, 
which  we  detest  in  their  errors.  And  we  do  not  consider  that 
there  is  ne(>d  of  iiuiniring  how  the  sin  comes  from  one  man  to 
another,  since  it  is  enongli  tliat  lliat  which  God  had  given  him 
■was  not  for  him  alone,  but  for  all  his  race,  and  thus  that  in  his 
person  we  have  been  denuded  of  all  good,  and  are  fallen  into  all 
poverty  and  malediction. 

XL— We  believe  also  that  this  vice  is  indeed  sin,  which  suf- 
fices to  condemn  all  mankind,  even  to  the  babes  from  the  womb 
of  tiie  mother,  and  that  for  such  it  is  accounted  before  God  ; 
even  that  after  baptism  it  is  always  sin  as  to  the  misdeed,  al- 
though the  condemnation  of  it  may  be  abolished  to  the  childien 
of  God,  not  imputing  it  to  them  by  his  gratuitous  goodness. 
Moreover,  that  this  is  a  i)erversity,  producing  always  fruits  of 
malice  and  rebellion,  as  the  most  holy,  although  they  resist  it, 
are  not  removed  from  being  infected  with  infirmities  and  faults 
while  they  live  in  this  world. 

XII. — NVe  believe  that  from  this  general  corruption  and  con- 
denmation,  into  which  all  men  are  i)lunged,  God  draws  out  those 
whom  in  his  eternal  and  immutable  council  he  has  elected  by 
his  goodness  and  mercy  only,  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  without 
consideration  of  tiieir  works,  leaving  others  in  this  same  corrup- 
tion and  condemnation  to  show  in  them  liis  justice,  as  in  the  first 
he  makes  to  appear  the  riches  of  his  mercy.  For  the  one  are  not 
better  than  the  others,  until  that  God  discerns  them,  according 
to  his  immutable  council  which  he  has  determined  in  .Jesus 
Christ  before  the  creation  of  the  world  ;  and  none  also  can  gain 
admittance  to  such  good  of  his  own  power,  since  from  our  na- 
ture we  cannot  have  a  single  good  emotion,  nor  affection,  nor 
thought,  until  that  God  has  prei)ossessed  and  disposed  us  to  it. 

XIII.— VVe  believe  that  in  Jesus  Christ  himself  all  that  was 
required  for  our  salvation  has  lieen  offered  and  revealed  to  us. 
Who  being  given  for  our  salvation  has  been  made  to  us  at  the 
same  time  wisdom,  righteousness,  sanctification  and  redemption, 
so  that  in  declining  him  one  renounces  the  mercy  of  the  Father, 
in  which  only  he  grants  us  to  have  refuge. 

XI  v.— We  believe  that  Jesus  Christ,  being  the  wisdom  of  God 


APPENDICES. 


503 


first 
not 
1(1  in  g 
Jesu3 
gain 
U'  mi- 
nor 
to  it. 
t  was 
o  ns. 
it  the 
_)tion, 
itlier, 


and  liis  otornal  Son,  has  worn  onr  flesh  in  order  to  be  God  and 
man  in  one  person,  even  man  simihir  to  ns,  passible  in  bodj'and 
in  mind,  except  (in)  as  mnch  as  he  was  pure  from  all  stain. 
And  as  to  iiis  hnmaii  nature,  that  he  was  the  trne  seed  of  Abra- 
ham and  of  David,  although  he  was  conceived  by  tlie  secret 
power  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  In  wliieii  we  detest  all  tiie  heresies 
which  have  anciently  troubled  the  churches,  and  specially  also 
the  diabolical  imaginations  of  Scrvet,  whicli  attributed  to  the 
Lord  Jesus  a  fantastic  divinity,  for  as  much  as  he  asserts  him  to 
be  tiie  idea  and  patron  of  all  things,  and  calls  him  i)ersonal  or 
ligurative  Son  of  frod,  and  fuially  invents  him  a  body  of  three 
eternal  elements,  thus  mixing  and  destroying  both  natures. 

XV.— We  believe  that  in  one  same  person,  known  as  Jesus 
Christ,  the  two  natures  are  truly  and  inseparably  conjoined  and 
nnited,  dwelling  nevertheless  each  nature  in  its  distinct  i)roperty, 
so  tiiat  whereas  in  this  union  tlie  Divine  nature,  retaining  its 
proi)erty,  has  remained  uncreated,  inlinite,  and  lilling  all  things  ; 
also  the  human  nature  has  remained  finite,  having  its  form, 
measure  and  property,  and  even  although  Jesus  Christ  in  rising 
again  from  the  dead  has  given  immortality  to  his  body,  never- 
theless he  has  not  removed  from  it  the  verity  of  its  nature.  And 
thus  we  regard  him  in  such  a  manner  in  his  divinity,  that  we  do 
not  divest  him  of  his  humanity. 

XVI.— We  believ.  that  God,  in  sending  his  Son,  has  desired 
to  show  his  love  and  inestimable  goodness  towards  us,  in  giving 
him  up  to  death,  and  raising  him  again  from  the  dead,  in  order 
to  ncconiplish  all  justice,  and  that  we  may  obtain  celestial  life. 

X  VII.— AVe  believe  that  l)y  the  unique  sacrifice  that  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  has  offered  on  the  cross,  we  are  reconciled  to  God, 
that  we  may  be  held  and  accounted  righteous  before  him ;  be- 
cause we  cannot  be  agreeable  to  him,  nor  partakers  of  his  adop- 
tion, except  in  as  much  as  he  i)ardoiis  us  our  sins  and  effaces 
them.  Thus  we  protest  that  Jesus  Christ  is  our  entire  and  per- 
fect absolution,  that  in  his  death  we  have  complete  satisfaction, 
to  acquit  us  of  our  crimes  and  iniijuities,  of  which  we  are  guilty 
and  can  only  be  deliv(Med  by  this  remedy. 

XVIII. — We  believe  that  all  our  righteousness  is  founded  in 
the  remission  of  our  sins,  as  also  this  is  our  only  happiness,  as 
David  says,  this  is  why  we  reject  all  other  means  of  being  able  to 
vindicate  ourselves  before  God  ;  and  without  presuming  any  vir- 
tue or  merits,  we  simply  lay  hold  upon  the  obedience  of  Jesus 
Christ,  wliich  is  granted  us,  as  mucii  in  order  to  cover  all  our 
faults  as  to  make  us  find  grace  and  favor  before  (Jod.  And  in 
reality,  we  believe  that  in  declining  this  foundation  as  little  as 
may  be,  we  would  not  be  able  to  find  elsewhere  any  repose,  but 
should  be  ;  Iways  tortured  with  dis(iuiet,  for  as  much  as  we  are 
never  i)ea.;eable  with  God  until  we  are  fully  persuaded  of  being 
loved  in  Jesus  Christ,  since  we  are  worthy  of  being  hated  in 
ourselves. 

XIX.— We  believe  that  it  is  by  this  means  that  we  have  the 
liberty  and  privilege  of  invoking  God,  with  full  promise  that  he 


50-1 


ArPENDICES. 


will  show  liimaolf  our  Fiitlior.  For  wo  should  not  liavo  any  ac- 
cess to  the  Father  if  we  did  not  address  (iiini)  by  this  Mecliiitor. 
And  that  we  may  he  heard  in  his  name,  it  is  necessary  to  hold 
our  life  from  him  as  from  onr  head. 

XX.— We  believe  that  we  are  made  i^artakers  of  this  ripht- 
eonsness  by  faith  oidy  ;  as  it  is  said,  that  he  has  stilfcred  to  )Mn'- 
chase  our  salvation  in  order  tliat  wiiosoever  believes  in  him 
should  not  i)erish.  And  that  tliis  is  done,  for  as  nnich  as  the 
l)romises  of  life,  which  are  given  ns  in  hini,  are  adapted  to  onV 
use,  and  in  experiencing  the  effect  wlien  we  accept  tliem,  not 
doubting  but  being  assured  by  tlie  mDutii  of  (Jod,  we  sliall  not 
be  disappointed.  Thus  the  figliteousness  whicii  we  obtain  by 
faith  depends  ui)on  the  voluntary  promises  by  which  God 
declares  and  testihes  to  ns  that  he  loves  ns. 

XXI. — We  believe  that  we  are  enliglitened  in  the  faith  by  the 
secret  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  so  tliat  this  is  a  free  and  special 
gift  which  God  grants  to  those  whom  he  thinks  lit,  so  that  be- 
lievers have  nothing  to  glory  in  of  it,  being  doubly  bound  be- 
cause they  have  been  preferred  to  the  others.  Also  "that  faith  is 
not  merely  given  for  a  time  to  the  elect,  in  order  to  bring  tliem 
into  t)ie  good  way,  but  to  make  them  ccnitinue  in  it  also  unto 
the  end.  For  as  it  is  in  God  to  make  the  beginning,  it  is  also  in 
him  to  finish. 

XXII.— We  believe  that  by  this  faith  we  are  regenerated  in 
newness  of  life,  being  natin-;illy  snbj(!cted  to  sin.  Xow  we  re- 
ceive by  faith  the  grace  to  live  holily  and  in  the  fear  of  (iod,  by 
accepting  the  promise  which  is  given  us  by  the  gosjyel,  knowing 
that  God  will  give  us  his  Holy  Spirit.  Thus  faitli  not  only  does 
not  cool  the  desire  for  good  and  holy  living,  but  engenders  and  ex- 
cites it  in  ns,  necessarily  producing  good  works.  Finally,  al- 
thougii  God,  in  order  to  acconii)lish  our  salvation,  regenerates 
us,  reforming  us  in  well-doing,  nevertheless  we  confess  tliat  the 
good  works,  which  we  do  by  the  direction  (^f  his  Sjyirit,  do  not 
come  into  account  to  justify  us,  or  to  merit  that  God  take  ns  for 
his  children,  because  we  should  be  always  floating  in  doubt  and 
alarm,  if  onr  consciences  did  not  rest  on  the  atonement  by  which 
Jesus  Christ  has  acquitted  us. 

XXIII.— We  believe  that  all  the  figures  of  the  Law  have  ter- 
minated in  the  coming  of  .Jesus  Christ.  But  although  the  cere- 
monies are  no  longer  in  use,  nevertheless  the  substance  and  real- 
ity of  it  has  remained  to  us  in  the  person  of  him  in  whom  lies  all 
fulfilment.  Moreover,  it  is  necessary  to  assist  ourselves  with  the 
law  and  the  prophets,  as  much  to  regulate  our  life  as  to  be  con- 
firmed in  the  promises  of  the  gosi)el. 

XXIV. — We  believe,  since  Jesus  Christ  is  given  ns  for  our 
<ndy  Advocate,  and  that  he  commands  us  to  go  jn-ivately  in  his 
name  to  his  Father ;  and  even  that  it  is  not  lawful  for  ns  to 
j)ray  except  in  following  the  form  which  (xod  has  taught  ns  by 
Ids  word  ;  that  all  tliat  men  have  imagined  of  the  intercession 
of  dead  saints  is  only  the  error  and  deception  of  Satan,  in  order 
to  mislead  men  with  the  form  of  praying  rigid.     We  reject  also 


APPENDICES. 


505 


all  otlior  means  which  men  i)rosumoi  to  have  in  order  to  rerlooni 
themselves  towards  (Jod,  as  dcro^ratory  to  the  siu;rillce  of  tlio 
death  and  ])assi()n  of. Icsiis  Christ.  Finally,  we  hold  i)ui^,Mtory  tor 
an  illusion  pi'oet'cdiiiijjt'i'oni  tliissanieshop  ;  fi-om  wliich  have  also 
]»roi;e«'d«'d  monastic  vows,  i>ilt;riina.L,'es.  prohiltitions  of  marriajje, 
and  of  the  nsc  of  meats,  ceremonious  (tl)servation  of  days,  auricu- 
lar confession,  indul^'ences,  and  all  other  such  thinijs  hy  which 
one  thinks  to  merit  ^mmcc  and  salvation.  Which  thini^s  we  re- 
ject, not  only  for  the  false  opinion  of  merit  which  is  attached  to 
them,  hut  also  hecause  they  are  human  inventions,  which  im- 
pose slavery  on  the  consciences. 

XXV.  — N'ow,  because  we  enjoy  Jesus  Christ  only  hy  the  mm. 
])el,  wo  lielieve  that  the  order  ot  the  churcli,  which  lias  Wen 
established  in  his  authority,  should  \w  sacred  and  inviolable, 
consecjuently  that  the  church  cannot  exist  it"  theni  are  not  pas- 
tors who  may  have  the  charfje  of  teaching,  whom  one  should 
honor  and  attend  with  revereu(,'e,  when  they  are  duly  called, 
and  exercise  faithfully  their  ollice.  Not  that  (hxl  sliould  bo 
hound  to  such  aids  or  inferior  means  ;  but  becanse  it  i>Ieases  him 
to  keep  us  under  such  check.  In  which  we  detest  all  faiitastics, 
who  would  yreatly  desire,  as  far  as  in  them  is,  to  destroy  the 
ministry  and  preachius;  of  the  word  of  (rod  and  the  sacraments. 

XXVI. — We  believe,  therefore,  that  no  i)erson  should  retire 
ai>art,  and  be  satistied  with  his  ])erson.  but  that  all  torrether 
should  keej)  and  ]>reserve  the  nnanimily  of  the  cimirh,  subnnt- 
tini?  to  connnon  instruction  and  to  the  yoke  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  that  in  any  place  where  (Jod  shall  have  established  a  true 
order  of  cimrcli,  although  the  ma<;istrates  and  their  edicts  may 
he  contrary  to  them,  and  that  all  those  who  do  not  side  there- 
with or  separate  from  it  opjjose  the  ordinance  of  (Jod. 

XXVII.— Nevertheless  we  believe  that  it  is  proper  to  discern 
carefully,  and  with  i)ru(lence.  what  is  the  true  chui'ch,  hecause 
too  much  they  abuse  this  title.  A\'e  assert  then,  followinj;  the 
word  of  (Jod,  that  it  is  the  company  of  the  faithful  who  ai^ree 
to  follow  this  word  and  the  pure  religion  which  i)roceeds  from 
it,  and  who  profit  from  it  all  the  time  of  their  life,  fjrowinc:  and 
strengthening  themselves  in  the  fear  of  (iod,  according  as  they 
have  need  of  advancin!T  and  of  marchin.i;  always  further  on. 
Also,  although  they  strive  and  it  is  sainted  to  them  to  have  in- 
cessant recourse  in  the  remission  of  their  sins,  nevertheless  we 
do  not  deny  that  amoni?  the  faithful  there  may  not  he  hypocrites 
and  re])robates  from  whom  wickedness  cannot  efface  the  title 
of  the  church. 

XXVIII.  —Under  this  belief  we  ])rotest  that  there  where  the 
word  »^f  (Jod  is  not  received,  and  where  they  make  no  jjiofessiou 
of  snbmittiniJC  to  it,  and  wiiere  there  is  no  usat^e  of  the  sacra- 
ments, to  speak  jirojierly  oiH^  cannot  judi^'e  tiiat  there  is  any 
church.  (-onscMpiently  we  condemn  the  assciublics  of  the 
Papacy,  since  the  pure  truth  of  (Jod  is  banished  from  them,  in 
which  the  sacraments  are  corrupted,  weakened,  falsilied,  or 
destroyed  entirely  ;  and  in  which  all  sui»erstitions  and  idola- 


606 


APrENDICES. 


tries  aro  the  fasliion.  We  hold,  thoroforo,  tliat  all  tlinso  who 
arc  coiiccriKMl  in  such  acts  and  coinnnmicalc  with  tii('in,|tart 
witli  and  n'trcncli  the  body  o[  .Icsns  Christ.  Ncvcrt lich'ss,  hv,. 
cause  then'  yet  n-inains  sunic  littii!  trace  of  tiic  ciiuicli  in  tlu^ 
I'apacy,  and  also  as  the  virtue  and  substance  of  liaptisni  lias 
coidinucd  in  it,  besides  that  the  etlicacy  of  baptism  does  not  de- 
fend on  him  who  administers  it ;  we  iicknowledy;e  those  wiio  aro 
l)ai)tized  there  liave  no  need  of  a  second  liaptism.  IIo\vev<'r,ou 
account  of  the  corrui>ti(»ns  which  are  tliere.  one  cannot  present 
children  to  them  without  polhitini^  one's  self. 

XXIX.— As  to  tlie  true  diurci),  we  believe  that  it  should 
b(^  governed  accordin^j  to  tlie  polity  whicli  our  Lord  Jesn.s 
Christ  has  established  ;  this  is  tiiat  there  be  pastors,  over.setus, 
and  deacons,  to  the  end  that  pure  doctrine  may  have  its  course, 
that  vice  may  be  punished  and  restrained,  and  that  tlie  ]>oor 
and  all  others  al1li('ted  may  l)e  succoured  in  their  necessities, 
and  tiiat  assemblies  may  he  made;  in  tlie  name  of  CJod,  in 
which  Rreat  and  small  njay  be  edilied, 

XXX.— "We  believe  all  true  pasiors,  in  any  jdace  that  they 
may  be,  to  have  the  same  authoiity  and  equal  i)ower  niuler  one 
sole  chief,  sole  sovereijjn,  and  sole  universal  bishop,  Jesus 
Christ;  and  for  this  cause  that  no  church  should  pretend  any 
power  or  lordship  over  an<ither. 

XXXI.-  We  believe  that  no  one  shonld  take  upon  himself  of 
liis  own  authority  to  Rovern  the  church  ;  but  that  that  should 
be  done  by  election,  because  it  is  possible  and  as  (.Jod  permits  it. 
Which  exception  we  add  tiiereto  specially,  because  it  lias  been 
necessary  sometimes,  and  even  in  oin-  time  (in  wliich  tlie  gov- 
ernment of  the  church  was  interiupted).  that  God  should  have 
raised  up  people  in  an  extraordinary  manner,  in  order  a^aiu  to 
erect  the  church,  which  was  in  ruin  and  desolation.  But  al- 
though it  may  be  so,  we  believe  that  it  is  necessary  always  to 
submit  to  this  rule.  That  all  pastors,  overseers  and  deacons'shall 
have  proof  of  heins  called  to  their  oliice. 

XXXII.— We  believe  also  that  it  is  ffood  and  prolltable  that 
those  who  are  appointed  to  be  superintendents  consider  amoiii? 
themselves  what  Jueans  they  should  take  for  the  ifoveniment  of 
the  whole  body,  and  at  the  same  time  that  they  by  no  means 
shun  that  whicli  has  h(!en  delivered  to  us  by  our  Lord  Jesus 
Clirist.  Which  does  not  prevent  that  there  sliould  not  be  any 
special  ordinances  in  each  place,  according  as  convenience  re- 
quires it. 

XXXIII.— Neveitheless  we  exclude  all  human  inventions,  and 
all  laws  which  one  would  wish  to  introduce  under  the  shadow 
of  the  service  of  God,  by  which  they  would  desire  to  bind  con- 
sciences; but  we  receive  only  what  makes  and  is  ])roper  for 
nourishing  concord,  and  to  hold  every  one,  from  the  tirst  to  the 
last,  in  obedience.  In  which  we  have  to  follow  what  our  I.,ord 
Jesus  has  proclaimed  as  to  excommunication,  which  we  approve 
and  confess  to  be  necessary  with  all  its  appurtenances. 

XXXIV.— We  believe  that  the  sacraments  are  added  to  the 


ArPENDICES. 


507 


word  for  moro  nmplo  oonnrmiition,  in  nrdrr  to  ho  to  us  as 
)>I^(I;,'<'>'  iiiKl  IdkciiHor  tlui  jxiact' of  (nxt.and  by  this  nicaiis  lo 
iii*l  iiiid  rt-licvf  our  tuitli,  nn  accDiint  of  tlif  iiitliiiiit  v  and  nidf- 
iitss  \vlii(!li  is  ill  us ;  and  tliat  they  Juc  so  far  outward  sij^ns.  that 
(iod  opnalcs  l»y  tlicni  in  the  power  of  lusSi)irit,  in  older  that 
nothinj,'  in  them  sif^nilies  to  ns  in  vain  ;  nevei  tlieless  we  hohl 
that  all  their  siihstance  and  reality  is  in  Jesns  (  liiisi ,  :iiid  if  one 
seiiarati!  tiieiii,  tliero  is  no  more  anything,'  biiL  shadow  and 
smoke. 

XXXV.— We  acknowledfje  of  them  only  two,  rnmmon  to  all 
the  eluireli,  of  which  the  liist,  which  is  liaptism,  is  t-iven  ns  for 
a  witness  of  onr  adoption,  because  tiiere  we  are  j^riil'ted  into  th(« 
t)()(ly  of  Christ,  tliat  we  may  be  washed  and  cleansed  by  his 
blo(')d,  and  then  renewed  in  lioliiiess  of  life  by  his  Holy  Spirit. 
"We  hold  also,  althoiiLth  we  may  be  baptized  but  once,  tliat  the 
beiielit  which  is  si^MiilitMl  in  it  to  ns  is  extended  to  life  and  deal  h, 
in  order  that  we  may  have  a  permanent  siKiiatnre  that  .Icsiis 
('lirist  will  bo  to  ns  always  rijihteonsness  an<l  .sanctilication. 
>Iow,altliontili  th  s  may  be  a  sacrament  of  faith  and  repentance, 
nevertheless  l»ccaiise  (Jod  received  in  his  chnrcli  the  babes  with 
their  fiitheis,  we  assert  that  the  infants  begotten  of  beli<n'er.s 
oilflht  to  be  baptized. 

XXXVl.  We  confess  that  the  holy  Lord's  Supper  (which  is 
the  second  sacrament)  is  t(.  ns  a  witness  of  the  union  which  W(! 
liave  with  .lesiis  Christ  ;  for  as  much  as  he  has  not  merely  once 
died  and  risen  a'^aiii  for  ns,  but  also  truly  restores  and  nourishes 
us  with  his  tlesh  and  with  his  blood,  in  that  we  maybe  one  with 
liim  ;  and  that  his  life  may  be  common  to  ns.  2S'ow,  although 
lie  may  be  in  lieav<'ii  until  that  he  comes  to  judjjre  the  whole 
earth,  nevertheless  we  l»elieve  that  by  the  secret  and  incompre- 
liensible  power  of  his  .Spirit,  he  nourishes  and  invigorates  us 
with  the  siilistance  of  his  body  and  his  blood  We  hold,  indeed, 
that  this  is  dt)ne  spiritually.  nOt  in  order  to  put  instead  of  per- 
formanee  and  reality,  imagination  or  thouffht ;  Imt  for  as  much 
as  this  mystery  excels  in  its  highness  the  measure  of  our  judj,'- 
ment,  and  the  whole  order  of  mankind.  In  short,  because  it  is 
heavenly,  it  can  only  lie  ai>preheiided  by  faith. 

XXXVlI.— We  believe  (as  it  has  been  said)  that  as  much  in 
the  Lord's  Supjjer  as  in  IJaptism,  (.Jod  gives  us  truly  and  in  ef- 
fect that  which  he  represents  there.  And  consecpiently  we  unite 
with  the  symbols  the  real  possession  and  enjoyment  of  what  is 
there  presented  to  us.  And  thus  all  those  who  brinj^  to  the  holy 
table  of  (ylirist  a  pure  faith,  as  a  vessel  receive  truly  that  wliiiJi 
the  symbols  testify  to  them  ;  that  is  that  the  body  and  tli<>  blood 
of  Jesus  Christ  serve  no  less  for  meat  and  drink  to  tiie  soul,  than 
the  bread  and  wine  do  to  the  body. 

XXX  VI 1 1. —Thus  we  hold  that  water,  being  a  decaying  ele- 
ment, is  not  allowed  to  testify  to  us  indeed  the  internal  cleans- 
ing of  our  soul  in  ttve  bloful  of  .lesus  Christ,  by  the  ellicacy  of  his 
Spirit,  and  that  i)read  ami  wine  being  given  to  us  in  the  i>ord's 
bui)per  serve  indeed  fur  spiritual  uourishment,  fur  as  mucli  as 


508 


APPENDICES. 


thoy  show  ns  as  to  the  oyo,  the  flesh  of  Jesus  Christ  to  "b**  to  iis 
our  iiK'iit,  and  his  blood  our  driidc.  And  we  reject  the  fuutasties 
and  heretics  wiio  ar(^  not  willing  to  receive  sucli  sijjns  and  to- 
k<'ns,  sinci^  our  Lord  Jesus  pronounced,  ''This  is  my  body,  and 
tliis  cu])  is  my  blood." 

XXXIX.— We  believe  that  God  desires  that  the  world  should 
be  ffoverned  by  laws  and  polity,  tliat  there  may  be  some  curl)  to 
restrain  the  inordinate  ai)petites  of  the  world.  And  tlius,  that 
he  has  establislied  kinjidonis,  republics,  and  all  other  kinds  of 
])rincipalities,  wiiether  liereditary  or  otherwise,  and  ail  that 
which  appertains  to  the  state  of  justice,  and  desires  to  be  recofr- 
nized  Author  of  tliem  ;  for  this  reason  lie  has  put  the  sword  iu 
the  iiand  of  the  niaf^istrates  to  subdue  the  sins  committed  not 
oidy  afJtainst  the  second  table  of  the  commandments  of  (Jod.  but 
also  ajj;ainst  tiie  lirst.  It  is  necessary,  tlierefore,  for  liis  sake 
that  not  only  one  suffers  that  superior's  rule,  but  also  that  one 
hoiuu'  them  and  linld  them  in  all  reverence,  holdiiifjc  them  as  his 
lieutenants  and  otiicers,  wliom  he  has  appointed  to  exercise  ji 
le{]fitimate  and  holy  char<?e. 

XL,— We  hold," therefore,  that  it  is  necessary  to  submit  to 
their  laws  and  statutes,  i)ayin<j  tributes,  imposts,  and  otlier  du- 
ties, and  to  wear  tiie  yoke  of  subjection  witli  a  good  and  sincere 
will,  although  they  should  be  unfaithful,  provided  that  the  sov- 
ereign authority  of  (Jod  remains  in  its  entireness.  Thus,  we 
detest  those  who  would  wish  to  reject  superiorities,  make  com- 
munity aud  confusions  of  goods,  and  reverse  the  order  of  justice. 


O.— Page  lOG. 

,  "Genp:va  was  a  part  of  ancient  Gaul,  and  worshipped  Taro- 
mis.  At  or  before  the  Reformation,  there  were  in  it  seven  papal 
churches.    The  Reformation  was  established  in  it  in  lo3o. 

'"In  IJerne,  it  was  established  by  the  magistrates  in"  lo2S. 
Froment  (in  English,  wheat)  set  up  a  school  in  (ieiu'va.  and  in 
it  tangiit  the  Protestant  religion.  On  January  1st.  loo;?.  greaL 
crow(ls  tried  to  hear  Froment.  The  Lord's  Suppei'  was,  for  the 
lirst  time,  dispensed  there  by  John  Guerin,  who  was  afterwards 
nunister  of  Neufchatel,  in  Switzerland. 

'•  In  ISoLan  Italian  Protestant  church  was  gathered  in  Geneva, 
and  a  while  fter,  a  Spanish  church.  Riding  elders  are  chosen 
and  propouiul'Hl,  as  ministers  are,  for  a  fortnight,  and  three  ask- 
ings, if  there  are  any  objections  to  their  ordination  V  None  are 
onlained  in  the  ministry  before  they  are  twenty-tive  years  old. 
They  pi  each  without  notes,  with  their  hats  on.  First  a  prayer, 
then  a  psalm.  A  person  appointed  sets  the  psalm  with  notes. 
The  psalms  are  sung  in  order,  from  first  to  last,  and  then  they 
begin  with  the  lirst  psalm  again.  At  marriage,  the  bride  and 
bridegroom  are  dressed  in  black.  Children  are  always  baptized 
at  church.  They  observe  the  Lord's  Sui)per  lour  limes  each 
year,  laid  receive  the  communion  aland iny.''^ 


mi 


INDEX. 


Arlirlps,  doctrinal,  lipliovrd,  U. 

Aiiiswoi  111,  Ills  vcrsinii,  I'J. 

Asm  •tiiMv  of  tlio  Kirlv  fii'st  reforming,  13. 

Adims,  John,  I'.HI. 

A\viikei\in>:,  the,  105. 

Ali.Tcnmilic,  K.,  1(W,  100,  113,  lir).116. 

Ariniiii'inisin  nnwla'Cinie  rcsiiectable, '228. 

Ar^vlp,  N.  Y.,  250. 

Antrim.  'itiH,  Mi,  3,">3,  30fi. 

An  f.xpiMlJi  nt  not  iidvaiitageous,  274. 

Alibo  la  I'ditrp,  2.SH. 

AMMim,  H.,  I'.t.j,  222,  252,  2.50,  260,  262. 

Ainlicrst  AHso.,a  coniniiltcc  to  Witit  oil,  295. 

AiiiKiii,  l>.,  195,  222,  272,  273,  27S. 

AlhiinySyi     ',314,315,327. 

Assent  to  hor  creed  reqnired,  342. 

Adams,  Kev.  J^lin  K.,  MS,  355. 

Aniiover,  on  ,\.  K.  I'rimcr,  founded,  364. 

Adams,  Kev.  Dr.  C.  U  .,  380. 

Allen,  Kev.  Dr.  B.  U  ,  3S+. 

Adams,  .lolm  ('.,  Ks(|..39G,  .397. 

All  imaiitiiie  cli:dii,  the,  399. 

Advent,  clmrcli  I'f  the,  402. 

A.  K.  I'res.  of  Boston  constituted,  408, 

Arnold,  I!ev.  (i.  ('.,  42:i. 

Adh<'rent,  a  t;enerons  one,  465. 

".Xhreiist  of  till'  times.''  400. 

Astonished,  a  C'in;;rcj;ation,  463. 

A  suicidal  course  aiiiiarentlv,  403. 

Halch,  the  Rev.  Mr..  163. 

Hay  colony  divided  into  parishes,  19. 

llaniet,  321. 

Itlair  and  liivitif^stoii,  put  buck,  21. 

Baldwin,  lli.v    M.,  154. 

lilacUstoTie,  \Vni.,  17. 

Boothliav,  143,  160,  177. 

Bradford",  town  of,  133,  3'28. 

J'radfMrd,  (iovernor,  478. 

iJath  Kol,  228. 

B.iston,:;75. 

llostun  calls  Murray,  156;  Asso.,  254,  256. 

Itoston  secured  airainst  loss,  63. 

Host  111  I'res,  constituted,  109,  111. 

lioyd,  Alc.\.,  ordained,  1'2.'),  1'20. 

Bigamy,  a  case  of,  1S6. 

Broken  state  of  I'les.  in  N.  E,  269. 

Brown,  Kev.  Jonathan,  '290,  313. 

llirlow,  ,IoeI,  294. 

Bedford,  311,  31'2.  3,53,  367. 

I'.eattie.  lU'v   J.  M.,  34.5,  47.5. 

ISrainard,  Uev.  T.  G.,  348,  335. 

Bi.xhy,  Hev.  Mr.,  377. 

Ihidtiiiort,  Dr.  llewett,  Mr.  Hinsdale,  384. 

Boston,  a  visit  t..,  3S9,  390. 

Itillsiiot  filed,  4ii5. 

lloston  I'res.,  tlie  second,  405. 

Boastint:  excluded,  464. 

liurns,  lU'v.  .1.  A.,  469. 

iJrewster,  Klder  W.,  479. 

Calvin's  Institutes,  3,  1.3,  19. 
Chaiij^e,  u,  iu  ^iuw  York,  133. 


Craiphoad,  Uey.  Thna.,  47. 

('onj;renation8  twelve,  150. 

Church  at  D.  College  unites  with  Pros.,  314. 

Channinp,  Hev.  W   E.,  316,  320,  321. 

Controversy  rd'e,  3'20. 

Cornwall,  Ct.,  327. 

Church  Street  CImrch,  33R,  .W. 

Centennial  coinini>sionui's,  190. 

Chester,  N.  II.,  91,92. 

Caterhisiiif;,  164. 

Changes  rung,  154. 

Caldwell,  .Iidin,  lo4. 

Convention  of  ii.i5,  266. 

Clarke,  i<ev.  G.  .M.,  464. 

Comenlioti,  iccle>ia-tical,  293. 

Clarke'.-,  wh  irf  and  street,  22. 

Congregati  •nalisni  cirriid  to  England,  19. 

Congri  gationalism  reinf  .reed,  334. 

Cromwell,  23. 

Colony  chattels  imitpd.  25. 

Conirover-y.  causes  oi',  1H8,  Mi^. 

Coleraitie,  119,  TJo,  213,  261,  '26.5,  260,  328. 

Congregationalism  ''  sufficiently  divine,"  19. 

Cotton.  Hooker  and  Stone,  arrival  of,  17. 

Cotton,  Hooker  and  Stone  olitaincd  a  new 

ordiuMtion,  17. 
Cotton,  Hooker  and  Stone  invited  to  assist 

in  Kngland,  20. 
Civil  action  against  Preshytorians,  first,  21. 
Cotton  to  Croinwidl  iihout  J^cotch,  '24. 
Collier.  Sir  G.,  176. 

Congp'gations,  Preshyteiian,  in  N.  E.,  191. 
"(\)venant,"  first  cliuich,  Boston,  8. 
Coleman,  Dr.,  102,  ll).'.. 
Courts,  church,  resiionsihle,  '298. 
Calvinism,  sereders  tr-ni,  342. 
"Conventional  agreement  made,"  .342. 
Conventional  atreenieiil,  results  of,  343, 
Cook,  Kev.  Joseph,  347. 
CruiUslianks,  Kev.  J.,  374. 
Childs,  Kev.  Dr.,  381. 
Change,  a,  came,  394. 
Choat-,  Knfus,  396,  399,  400,  403. 
Criticisms  given  to  the  man,  4U1. 
dishing,  Caleli,  403,  404. 
Carver,  Kev.  T.  G.,  412. 
Claybaugh,  Uev.  W.  M.,  4'24,  4'25,  426. 
Carti-r,  .lames,  427. 
China  saying  to  Britain,  4'27. 
Cathcart,  George,  416. 
Calhoun,  Kev.  S.  F.,  465. 
Clapperton,  I!ev.  J.  li.,  409. 
Condition,  peculiar,  of  the  churches,  470. 
Covenanters,  473,  475. 

Dana  oidained,  290,  '292,  348,  309-372,  421. 

Daille.  33,  4os,  4l'9. 

Davenport.  Ill3. 

Davidson,  ISev.  \V..  79,  80,  246. 

Discipline  neglected,  99,  UK),  '298. 

Dartmouth  College,  163,  '203,  '273,  329. 

Del  ry,  siege  of,  44. 

Duulup,  li«v.  £>.,  132;  ordained,  133. 

(509) 


510 


INDEX. 


PoiiKlasfl,  Wm.,  M.  D.,  tells  us,  137. 
1)('U(■0M^,  tlii'ir  iillU'c,  l;i(). 
I'diriiiici',  Kcv.  Mr.,  1-0. 
l)(iiiii>>lic  unrsliipii  \it;ility,  289. 
lie  l.iiiifv,  Kcv.  It.  A.,  :i77. 
l)uriii.  j{..v,.).  \V.  ('(.I(iiiuii,;!84. 
"  iiivisidii,  nick  of,"  ;;",)4. 
]>isii|iliiii>,  -tiiiidaid  of,  lowered,  394. 

1 (1,  a,  :i'.»(i. 

Diiiiii,  Kcv.  J.  IV,  .1,-.G,  400. 
I'aiiii.  K    il.,  Jr.,  Il'.i'.t,  400. 
Itiii-iiiiurc,  Jaiuus,  4.H. 


End 


pisodo,  nil.  .')0.">. 

ast  Itostiiii,  :'p.;'i, 

cll.s.  Kcv.  W.  \V.,;i7-2,  373. 

Ka^lc  U  iiitr,"  the,  iil. 

\Ncr,  Kcv.  N.,  U.t. 

Iwnrils  ''oiit  of  ('oncoit,"  13. 

iiSliind  (irfccdcd  ."Scotland,  14. 

lii>co|ialiaii.s  ii"  longer,  10. 

cclcsiastical  tiatisitioii,  10. 

.\|lll.^iticlll  of  8iri|itiire,  104. 

itOM,  IJl,  1J_',  Iii4. 

Iliot,  iU'v.  John,  hlcssrd,  '2'JO. 

IChii's  sake"  h'ss  prcii.'iis,  289. 

iidiuaiK  I'  for  imblic  woisliij),  :1J4, 325. 

Kxprcssivc  sili'iu'c,  '  ;120. 

Iv,  i'r.  Iv/.f.t  Stjlo'  true  doclanvtion,  342. 

Ilcrvcscciii'c  |ia.s>icd  oil,  ."if);). 

ast  K,  tetuii,  41'J;  U.  1*.,  4.:!,  4«4,  465. 


Partorv  villafrp.  :i7S. 

Fail  Kivcr,  ■lo'.t-412. 

"Kelt,  want,  a,"  l.'il. 

rreiiih  ('hur.'h,  :!S,  1?,2,  334. 

"Faith"  of  tlie  IMIgriui!?,  11. 

Faith  and  lo^ie,  UtRI. 

Fastiiij;,  ii  day  of.  -30. 

Fcclcral  strci't,  207. 

Free-will  Hapti-iis  condemned,  288. 

Faiiidy  worsliip,  3.^0. 

Ferrier,  llcv.  Thus.,  340. 

Oovernineiit  determined,  11. 
(iilliiore,  Itev.,  l,')l,  l,-):i,  21,'). 
(iiiiv,  .Me.,  tiiial  meeting  at,  217. 
(iraitoii  I'ri's.,  r,t2,  Eastward  to,  232. 
(ir.toii,  20.S,  2.")H. 
(Jrowlli,  eia  of,  140. 
(irace,  the  ineaiis  of,  enjoyed,  231. 
(iil)soil,  Kev.  Will.,  344. 
(.ioodwillie.  Key.  David,  340. 
(iooilwillie,  Kev.  Th mas.  31G. 
(■ray'«,  Mrs.  Win.,  guests,  348. 
(ieoi;;e,  l!ev.  U.  Y.,  374. 
Gordon,  Kev.  1» ,  387,  417. 
"(■lobe,"  the,  ofTuronto,  30,''). 
Oeiitleiii  111,  a,  sorry  and  sworn,  398. 
(Jralrun,  Kev.  W  ,  42'.i,  472. 
"tienesis  of  the  United  Stales,"  47(8. 

irall,  Kev.  G   M.,  389,  423. 
Harvey,  Ki'V.  Jos,,  US. 
Henry,  Key.  Iln|j;h,  131. 
Huguenots,  2'.l-32;  creed,  appendix  B. 
lluiuptou  advised,  296,  290. 


Houston,  Rev.  .T.,171, 1S,5, 133. 

Ilairis,  Key.  .Mr.,  at  Windham,  313. 

Hillhoiise  and  expedienev,  129,  83,  85. 

lliiyes,  Key.  A.  A.,  31H. 

IIiitehiriHon,  Mrs.,  and  the  sisters,  18. 

Ilntclii.-ioii,  iSev.  A.,  received,  154. 

Ilaiieoek,  .loiiii,  178. 

Hel.ion,  N    Y.,  201. 

Hnntintrton.  sermon  on  imputation,  273. 

House,  li.'V.  Mill.,  303. 

Haskell.  Key.  T.  N,  375,  422. 

Harvey,  Kev.  Dr.,  379,  3H0. 

Ilolliiook,  Mass.,  Oongl.  church,  380. 

Hartford,  3S I,  3H2,3«3.  424. 

Heron.  Kev.  J.  M.,  388,  425. 

Honest  confession,  an,  'Ml. 

Iliheriiian,  the,  and  Scot,  392. 

lluioii,  Kev.  Ur.  Andrew,  416, 

Ilolyoke,  418. 

HarUne-s,  Kev.  R.,  460. 

Hood,  Kev.  J.'hn,  404. 

HainiiDiid.  Key.  K.  N.,  409. 

Houston,  Kov.  A.  Y.,  409. 

Independence,  declaraiion  of,  171. 
Irish  I'rohyterv  and  others,  277. 
Jr/iiih,,,/,  :!i;:"i. 
Imiiedinieni,  an,  392. 
liiipiitatlon,  10. 
Iiuiciniiitieatlons,  75. 
liiJiieeiiients,  lal^;e,  199. 

•Tohnston,  Kev.  W.,  128,  1.30,  89. 
Joidaii  hack  once,  2'.l,"). 
J..hiistoii,  Kev.  .\    K.,  345. 
Jolmston,  Kiv.  Jas.  «i.,  375. 
Joliiiston,  licv.  11.  H.,  375,  421,  422. 
Juiikin.  .Mr.  A.  ('.,  41S. 
Jones,  Kev.  D.  !'>.,  419. 

Kinkaid,  Rev.  John,  130. 

Kno.x,  .lohii.  returned  to  Scotland,  13. 

Kirk,  address  to  the,  124. 

King's,  Dr.,  .Mount  Zion  of  the  eurtli,  392. 

Kyle,  Itev.  J 'shua  K.,  4b5. 

Ken,  a  piophul'.s,  458. 

LeMercier,  30. 

Londonderry  Pres.,  132. 

Londoiidci  ry,  "it,  275,  303, 

Lawrence,  423,  424. 

LoiiK  Lane  and  J.  Slurray,  1.50,  103, 158. 

Lon;;  Lane,  petition  from,  254,  203. 

Little,  .hihii,  04,  05,  OH,  7;),  75,  310,  403. 

Lowell,  415;  dance,  410-418. 

Little  ordained,  olO,  313. 

Lotliitip's.  Kev.  Dr.,  statement,  405. 

Litchfield,  :tl4. 

Lowe,  .Folm,  189. 

I/ech(oid,  21. 

"  Leave  t"  withdraw"  {jraciously  given, 406. 

LawBon,  Kev.  J.  K.,  429. 

MrArtliur,  Key.  Jas.,  340. 
Murray,  K(  v.  John,  141,  150, 158,  244-248. 
Merrill.  Kev.  N,,  received,  154. 
McUrej;or,  Kev.  Jumes,  70,  77. 


INDEX. 


611 


MrLfati,  John,  IfG. 

M(•lln•^'o^,  Hi'V.  David,  85,  134. 

Milt.Jii,  Itcv.  Mr,  Vi'.io,  -JKl. 

Jlasiin,  Itiv.  .1.  M  ,  iiiiissivc  thoughts  of,  302. 

IMilliKiiii,  Kcv.  Jaiui's,  .'.41,:!45. 

MnnirlifM.l,  Kcv.  .1.,  ir..5;  "sliy  of  it,"98. 

Mit'lciiahaii,  Kcv.  Win.,  88,  l^O. 

McClcaiv,  ('ajit.  David,  17'.>. 

Bhini.v,  K.'v.  J.,  17;".,  ITii,  180,  182. 

JDiiislns  siill'cM-,  188. 

Milloid,  CI.,  IH). 

Monisnii,  .John,  his  liistory,  130, 

Jlniii-..ii,  Jlcv.  W.,  i;J2,  ■.iJ.S,  348, 

Maii.sficld,  Ct ,  :i-.;7. 

Mociii',  Ui'v.  SmI.,  o'lB. 

»I(ilrcK<ii-,  Rev.  P.,  353. 

ADiir,  Kcv.  .\.  S.,  -iir,. 

MiDarcM,  Rev.  \Vi>i.,  G7C. 

Magill,  Kov.  I).,  370. 

UlcLaicii.  K.'v.  W.,  ,'580,  408. 

McLaughlin,  Kev.  .J.,  387,408. 

Memoir  concoalcd,  ,i'.)7. 

jMclliiiclitiiii,  \M>r8t  ever  written,  407. 

MacMillan.  Kcv.  \V.,  408,  417. 

McVc.iii,  Mr.  1).  P.,  412 

McOiiiicliv,  Kcv.  Mr.,  413. 

McWilliiiiii.-i.  I!cv.  A.,  423. 

McC.imicll.  Kcv.  W.  T.,  424. 

McCcM-d,  IJi'V.  M.  S.,  4(l.i. 

Jlodd.v's  Talicrtiailc,  458  ;  "  talk,"  460. 

McCrackcn,  Hcv.  C,  4li4. 

Jli'('imc,40fi,  407. 

McCov.  Kcv.  A.  G.,  40S. 

Mc.\.vcal,  Kcv.  K.  A.,  409. 

McFall,  Kcv.  ]).,  473. 

".Miiytlowur,"  the,  476. 

Newhuryport,  157,  292,  367,  30.9. 

N.«  liiirypoit,  two  churclios  after  1795,  293; 

ddiar,  351. 
N.  K.  A.  K.  Pies.  t(.  he  visited,  299-301. 
New  Market  I're.s.  at  .hily  4tli,  1770, 158,297. 
New  n.wt.m,  K.  P.  lirudiurd,  313. 
Necessity,  a,  18. 

Oeeuni,  Kev.  Samiisoii,  221. 
Old  version,  "gnarled  vigor,"  401. 
Oliver,  l!ev.  A.,  312,  313. 
"Orlhud.ix  "  in  1787,205. 
Ordination,  new,  eiiiluriiig,  18. 
Oltcrs(.n,  Kev.  .James,  408. 
OstnieisuU  PruHbytudiina,  6. 


I'reshytery.  first  respeetahlo,  131,  58,  128. 
I'res.  HO  goiid  liy  eoniproniisu,  129,  130. 
I'ierec,  Kev.  Tlln.-i.,  131. 


I'ans'ies,  ii). 

l>r(^-<liyterial  visitation  ordered,  229. 

rrovi.lciiec,  412.  4(i5. 

I'lcceiitor,  the,  2-'f5. 

trusbyteriuas  uold,  23. 


Prentice,  Rer.  Sol.,  122, 124. 
Prentice,  .Mrs   Sol.,  123. 
Pres   at  Ka-tward  tunned,  146. 
I'oritaiis,  doctrinal,  15. 
I'uriiaiis  to  purity  the  Kstnlilishmcnt,  15. 
Puritins  remove  to  Leydeii  from  Amster- 
dam, 15. 
Puritans  remove  in  1020  to  America,  10. 
Puritans  who  go  to  he  an  absolute  church,  10. 
P(.pery,  third  vital  [lower  nf,  2^7. 
Picslivtei  ians,  hccanie,  for  safety,  202. 
Park.'r,  Kcv.  K.  I-.,  329,  349,  35(J. 
Parker  and  Jlellcii  deacons,  335,  3,30. 
PrcK  „f  Newliurypc.rt  fanned,  341,  343,  344. 
Prosperity  of  s<.me  rouEregations,  why,  347. 
Pinkerton's,  J.,  liei|uests,  -148. 
Prondtil,  Kev.  ,Iohii,  351,  3,".2. 
Park.  Kcv.  Prof,  ;i03, 
Pulpit,  the,  gaineil  but  little,  364,  365. 
Planteiscallt'hnrcli  of  Kngland  mother,  17. 
Painter,  Kev.  H.  .M.,  377. 
Pres.  of  ('(iniicctlcut,  381. 
Pres.,  A.  K.,  of  New  York.  380. 
I'lilliiis,  evangelical,  in  Koston,  390. 
Pioneer.the,  392,393;  churcli  prospered, 406. 
Presbyterians,  tlio  Kefurmed,  394. 
Pr.itesl.  a,  402. 
Pnlillcutions,  400,  407. 
Prcsliyteiiatiisin  ebbing,  197. 
Polity,  civil,  set  up  by  I'ilgriins,  477. 

Queen  and  bishops  severe,  14. 

Hares,  dissimilarity  of,  198. 

Kced,  Andrew,  87. 

Kcid,  (Jco.,  173. 

Held,  Mrs   (ieo  ,  175. 

Kuthcrtord's  labors,  87,  88. 

Kepresentatii.u  forced  on  Puritans,  18. 

Kcconciliation  aimed  at,  152. 

Kcvolution,  the,  170. 

Kef.  Pres.,  adivisidii  among,  345,  346. 

Kvegate  and  llarnct,  2(>4,  321,  324. 
i  Ki..s,s.  Kev.  J.,  370. 

Kecords,  business,  into  New  Jerusalem,  398. 

Kecoids,  business,  disinterred  in  Arlington 
stieet  church,  399. 

Repairs,  !f4,7(io,  402. 

IJoliinson,  l!ev.  .las., 412. 

Keckic'.s  ►tatciiK^nt,  415. 

Kobb,  ,I(din  P.,  ordained,  41.5,  4G5. 
j  Kefornicd  Presbyterians,  428. 
I  Kcccninicndatlons',  402. 

"  Uopository,  Kviiiigelical,"  says,  470. 

I  Snicid:il,  a.  cotirse  of  jastor,  403. 
.*^ernioiis,  reading,  300. 
Sabine,  Kev.  .laiucs,  ;i30,  .338,  339. 
.Sileni,  third  church,  100, 102;  Pres'.,  :iOT,  210. 
Scarborii,  131,  ,sti. 
"Si'ccdcrs."  i:;8. 

Seal.n.(ik.  l.M,  100;  letter  to,  237. 
Stark.s,  172. 
.Sil.'in,  N.  Y.,  2,-|0,  2,-.7. 
Scotch  biimlnien,  22,  24. 
'•Scots'  Charilalile  S  cictT,"  25. 
Scots'  recjuesl  in  ^uw■  York  refused,  134. 


512 


IKDEX. 


Scotch-Irish,  4143,  4G,  47,  49,  56. 

Syn.id,  14-l.s. 

Synod,  its  "  dccrooa,"  18. 

8yncid,  wild  coiiHtimted  it,  13. 

t<ei'tiiriii!i  riincor,  I'M. 

fiyiKiil,  i)lim  (if,  l():i,  1(;5,  lr,7,  1C8, 193. 

t>liiiidiirds  siilisnilMMl,  lis. 

Star  Ch:indi('i- (llssidvctl  I'l-f-^liytorios,  ^^>. 

Scotland,  ('liiirfh  of,  ii  gciicriil  i)laii,  I3,i. 

Scotland,  Cliuirh  of,  Hooli  of  DisciiiliiiP,  136. 

intone  and  Hooker,  81. 

Slavery,  1S4. 

Sabliatli,  Aniprican,  190. 

Svlvi'Stcr,  'm. 

Synod,  A.  K.,  257,  270,  297,  307,  319. 

JSessions,  the  safety  of  church,  293. 

Sects  in  Kliode  Island  and  Maine,  29*. 

Second  Church,  Neubnryport,  309. 

Society,  Federal  street,  317,  320. 

Swedenliorgiiuis.  335. 

Sloan,  llev.  Win,  345. 

Shields,  .Mr.  R  ,  345. 

Stanifoid,  Corning,  B.,  B.,  TIalaey,  383. 

Scotch  i)raechiiig  wanted,  3S9. 

Servant-i  at  times  allured,  391. 

Session,  records  of  a  decomposed,  397. 

Sworn  otliciiil,  a,  404. 

Shnrtlell'.  Mayor,  patches  up  a  stone,  409. 

Skinner,  Uev!  Dr.,  413. 

Saunder.son,  Uev.  Jus.,  413. 

S'Ulh  Boston, 42.5. 

Smith,  Kev.  1'.  Y.,  428,  405. 

Seed  8'iwn,  results  correspond,  459. 

Selections,  subversive,  4tjt). 

Service,  Kt-v.  J.,  409. 

Stewart,  liev.  A.  S.,  470. 

Temples,  Parker's  and  Taine's,  463. 

'i'hoocraey.  a,  established.  7. 

Triidty,  tlie  diictrine  of,  diopped,  288. 

Thompson,  liev.  Tlios.,  7S. 

'J'hompson,  Kev.  .1.,  his  overture  in  1728, 135. 

Tlu)mpson,  Kev.  J.  L..  4i'i(). 

Taggai  t,  S.,  applies,  105,  106,  311,  328. 

Taiilfsville,  3M. 

Towns,  Presbyterian,  201. 

'i'houipsoaville,  37«,  3K0. 

Town  meetings  vote  out  the  Psalms,  272. 

Truro,  Nova  Scotia,  109. 

Toombs,  313. 

Town  meet'gs  in  L.  opened  with  prayer,  348. 

Timlow,  Rev.  H.  R.,  374-. 

Thompson,  Kev.  R.  (1.,  3S1. 

TUompsouville,  A.  K.  church  in,  385-388. 


T.,  Mrs.,  391 ;  her  liiishand,  392. 
Truth  nnt  safe  on  earlh,  399. 
Thomas,  Rev.  A.,  414. 
Taunton,  41S. 
Thompson,  Rev.  .S.  V.,  424. 
Taylor,  Klder  Jcdin,  425. 
Theory  of  Congregationalism,  8. 
Turnbull,  Rev.  J.  11.,  406. 

Universal  salvation,  229. 
Unitarianism,  3:iii,  331. 
I'rsulini'  imus,  334,  335. 
L'r.iuluirt,  Rev.  John,  102,  165,  214. 

Vermont,  321 ;  Pres.  constituted,  346,  469. 
Vuluiitown,  Ct.,b2, 126;  and  Mr.  Burrauce, 

127. 
Visitations,  i)a-toral,  104. 
Vow  of  meuibeis  of  \Vr.  Assembly,  20. 
A'ast  events,  21. 

■\isitatioii  a  I'resbyterial  one,  234. 
Vamped,  "'the  imitations,"  295. 
Version,  Bay  .-^late.  309,316. 
Voted.  (.2  lo"  11.  to  sell  our  land,  402. 
Veisions,  new,  4t)7. 

AVallace,  Rev.  A.  G.,  428. 

Wallace,  I!ev.  1).  A.,  408,  420. 

Watts'  "imitations"  since  1741,  1.54,  201. 

Wandsworth,  fust  Pres.  in  Kngland  at,  14. 

Walker,  Kev.  /aeli.,  77. 

Wesindnster  Conli'ssion  adopted,  136. 

Wheehr,  San I,  Mit.  I.-.7. 

Whitaker,  Salem  admitted,  154,102, 212, 286. 

Willis  fpiotid,  02. 

Williams  and  Skelton  afraid,  18. 

Wooobridge  first  born  of  llarvaid,  19. 

Worcester,  52,  54,  01,  i"J. 
I  Windham,  Lin,  131,  3.53,  367. 
!  Williams,  S.,  called,  131 ;  withdraws,  196. 
I  Waxhaw,  S.  C,  179. 
j  Waldi-nses,  13. 
!  West-running  brook,  51,  364. 
'  Whiteheld,  90,  97. 
;  Wheel,. ek,  a  letter  to,  222. 

White  (reek,  N.  Y.,  223. 

Wiishingion,  Pres.  at  Kasfd  address,  240. 

\\  ilsoM,  .Mrs.  Agnes,  204,  3.50. 

West  Derry.  ''a  felt  want,"  294. 
;  Wilsons,  Kev.  S.  M.  and  R.  Z.,  343. 

Wilkin.sonville,  42t'). 
I  \\illianison,  Kev.  James,  426. 
i  What  Clod  Luuurs,  403,  4o4. 


While  we  regret  to  omit  part  of  Appendix  C,  and  all  of  D  and 
E,  we  find  they  are  too  long  for  insertion,  and  would  not  proba- 
bly be  of  deep  interest  to  the  common  reader. 


92. 


,8. 


5,  214. 

tp(l,  34fi,  469. 
Mr.  Diirraiice, 


mbly,  20. 

234. 

)5. 

ad,  402. 


'41,  154,  201. 
ngland  at,  14. 

)ted,  136. 

4,162,212,286. 

,18. 
viiid,  19. 

hdraws,  196. 


address,  240. 

104. 
;.,  343. 


11  of  D  and 
iiot  proba- 


